Nobuta. O Produce

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Nobuta wo Produce


caption =
ja_name = 野ブタ。をプロデュース
ja_name_trans = Nobuta. O Purodyūsu
genre = DramaInfobox animanga/Drama
title = Nobuta Wo Produce
director = Hitoshi Iwamoto and Norika Sakuma
network = NTV
first = October 15 2005
last = December 17 2005
slot = Saturdays at 9 p.m.
episodes = 10Infobox animanga/Novel
author = Gen Shiraiwa
publisher = Kawade Shobou Shinsha
first = November 17 2004
volumes = 1

nihongo|"Nobuta wo Produce"|野ブタ。をプロデュース|Nobuta. O Purodyūsu is a Japanese drama series (dorama), produced and aired in 2005 by NTV. The television show is based on the book of the same name by Gen Shiraiwa (ISBN 4-309-01683-9). The story follows the high school lives of Shuji and Akira as they attempt to make a shy Nobuko into the most popular girl in school.

Plot Overview

Introducing Nobuta

Shuji Kiritani (Kazuya Kamenashi) is a very popular high school boy whose girlfriend is Mariko Uehara (Erika Toda), the most popular girl in school. Akira Kusano (Tomohisa Yamashita), his classmate, does not really have any friends - something that is attributed to the fact that he cannot read the atmosphere well.One day, a very shy girl, Nobuko Kotani (Maki Horikita) transfers to their school and is instantly picked on by a group of girls for her shyness. As a testimony to their youth, Shuji and Akira team up and decide to "produce" her, to make her popular. They nickname her "Nobuta"...

Production of Nobuta

The various episodes deal with the pair's attempts at making Nobuta popular by making her more appealing. Amidst this, a mysterious person insidiously attempts to waylay all of Shuji's and Akira's efforts. Fortunately, the trio always manages pulls through with ingenuity.

Finale

Shuji has to cope with his loss of popularity after he is caught out lying about Mariko and does not assist when a classmate is beaten up. Despite this, with the knowledge that his two true friends, Akira and Nobuta, will always be there for him, Shuji gets over it. There is also the revelation of Aoi, Nobuta's first friend besides Shuji and Akira, as the mysterious antagonist of the story. In the final episode Shuji discovers that he and his family must move out of Tokyo because of his father's job. Akira follows Shuji to his new home town and surprises him by showing up at his new school. Nobuta is left alone in Tokyo, but she has overcome her shyness, and is finally able to smile. She also becomes popular among the other students, and is no longer bullied. The end of the drama sees all three characters being able to "live wherever [they] are", having learnt the meaning of friendship and love.

Main Characters

The drama centres around 3 main characters namely Shuji, Akira and Nobuko.

huji Kiritani

Shuji (桐谷修二) treats everything in life as a game, and thus, lives his life as a little white lie. He believes that by keeping up a "cool" façade, he can get to his goal without getting hurt. Because he chooses to hide his true self, Shuji is, on the inside, a truly lonely person. Although he does not like Mariko romantically, he has lunch with her everyday in a bid to boost his popularity. He is only truly open to Akira and Nobuko, and considers the two as his only true friends. Always putting the feelings of others before himself, Shuji does not have the power to say "no". He always bottles up his own feelings, and never complains.

Akira Kusano

Unlike Shuji, Akira (草野彰) is not popular. Constantly on a soy milk high, Akira always finds ways to get on Shuji's nerves. Despite this, they become good friends by the end of the series. With much money to dispense of, Akira finances most of their escapades. With no intention of following the footsteps of his father, the president of a company, Akira is a free spirit who would rather live his a life as a "dime in the street" and enjoy his youth. At one point in the story, it is revealed that Akira has affections for Nobuta. However, he does not pursue his feelings knowing that he will not be able to make her happy. He demonstrates a high prowess in karate easily beating up a bully and smashing through a set of tiles. Naturally forgiving, he is ready to forgive and forget, as long as it preserves his friendship with Shuji and Nobuta.

Nobuko Kotani

Nobuko (小谷信子) is painfully shy after initially being rejected by her stepfather at a young age. Following this, due to the fact that she finds it difficult to mix around and relate to other students, she has been continuously bullied through her school life. Because of the painful experiences she has undergone, Nobuko is cynical to the world. She believes that no matter where she is, or no matter how hard she tries, the world will still reject her. With Shuji and Akira's help and encouragement, she begins to open up more to others. Nobuko considers Shuji and Akira as the two people who are the most important to her. At the end of the series, she has finally gathered enough confidence to smile and continue socialising, even without Shuji and Akira.

Minor Characters

Mariko Uehara

Shuji's popular. basketball-playing girlfriend. Mariko brings lunch for Shuji everyday, which shows her determination to have him love her back the same way she does. Although devastated when she finds out that Shuji does not reciprocate her feelings, she gradually comes to accept it. Although she is not offcially a member of the Nobuta Producing team, she was indispensable in helping to produce Nobuko. At the end of the series, she has forged a friendship with Nobuko, and becomes her good friend after Shuji and Akira are gone.

Aoi

The main antagonist of the story, though it is found out later in the series. Aoi strives to destroy all of the trio's efforts, relishing the power of destroying someone's life and making others miserable. Because Nobuko considers Aoi to be her first friend, nobody suspected her intentions until Shuji found out. Later on, Aoi learns an important lesson about friendship and redemption, and is given a chance to turn over a new leaf at Nobuko's grace.

Credits

Cast

* Kazuya Kamenashi - nihongo|Shūji Kiritani|桐谷 修二|Kiritani Shūji
* Tomohisa Yamashita - nihongo|Akira Kusano|草野 彰|Kusano Akira
* Maki Horikita - nihongo|Nobuko Kotani|小谷 信子|Kotani Nobuko (aka "Nobuta")
* Erika Toda - nihongo|Mariko Uehara|上原 まり子|Uehara Mariko
* Takashi Ukaji - nihongo|Satoru Kiritani|桐谷 悟|Kiritani Satoru
* Yuto Nakajima - nihongo|Koji Kiritani|桐谷 浩二|Kiritani Kōji
* Yoshinori Okada - nihongo|Takeshi Yokoyama|横山 武士|Yokoyama Takeshi
* Tomoya Ishii - nihongo|Yoshida|吉田 浩|Yoshida
* Katsumi Takahashi - nihongo|Ippei Hirayama|平山 一平|Hirayama Ippei
* Mari Natsuki - nihongo|Yoko Sada (Katherine)|佐田 杳子（キャサリン）|Sada Yōko (Kyasarin)
* Fumiko Mizuta - nihongo|Kozue Bando|坂東 梢|Bandō Kozue
* Shunsuke Daito - Taniguchi
* Honami Tajima - nihongo|Misa Inoue|井上 美咲|Inoue Misa
* Akiko - nihongo|Nami|佐伯 奈美|Nami
* Tomu Suetaka - nihongo|Kondo|近藤 利晃（ボケ担当）|Kondō

Staff

*Hitoshi Iwamoto and Norika Sakuma - directors
*Hidehiro Kawano - producer
*Izumi Kizara - screenwriter

Episodes

Awards

;47th annual Japanese Television Academy Awards :
* Best Drama
* Best Actor: Kazuya Kamenashi
* Best Supporting Actress: Maki Horikita
* Best Director
* Best Script
* Best Music

;2006 10th Nikkan Sports Drama Awards :
* Best Actor : Tomohisa Yamashita

Music

The theme song is 'Seishun Amigo' by Shūji to Akira, a special group consisting of Kazuya Kamenashi and Tomohisa Yamashita, named after their drama counterparts. The song topped the Oricon charts in 2005, selling over 1 million copies and climbing to the top as the most successful single of the year.

External links

*ja icon [http://www.ntv.co.jp/nobuta/ Official website]
*en icon [http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Nobuta_wo_Produce Nobuta wo Produce] - at DramaWiki