Smile

Smile (スマイル/Sumairu) is a 2009 Japanese romance drama. It stars Matsumoto Jun, Aragaki Yui, Nakai Kiichi, Koike Eiko, Tokuyama Hidenori, and Shun Oguri. The summary is as follows:

Hayakawa Vito has a Filipino father and a Japanese mother, but he was born and raised in Japan and has never visited the Philippines. The ever-smiling Vito works at Machimura Foods during the day, and at night, he works a part-time job trying to make his dreams come true. One day during an incident at a bookstore, he meets a girl named Mishima Hana, who lost her ability to speak due to an accident. But even though she can't speak, Vito is drawn to her beautiful smile. However, Vito becomes wrongly suspected by the police for a crime, and after meeting the lawyer Kazuma, the issue begins to grow... Together, Vito, Hana, and Kazuma will go through challenging times and have to overcome many obstacles.

I watched this because (1) Matsumoto Jun is in it and (2) it deals with more serious issues in Japanese society such as prejudice and discrimination against foreigners as well as criminals. Although this drama is categorized as "romance," there's also an equal amount of justice/law in it. It's about a boy who, due to his mixed race, is brought through hurdle after hurdle, first joining a gang, then repenting, then being pulled back into it and suspected because of his race, even though his nationality is Japanese and has never stepped foot in the Philippines. Not to mention his name's foreign - written in katakana and everything (ビト, or Bito). It was sort of frustrating at points where fingers were automatically pointed at him if anything went wrong - or even when he was just walking down a street, a policemen stopped and asked for his ID. I think the drama condensed all prejudices all into one so this was probably a lot, but it probably does happen quite a bit. Not just due to race either - people's view of someone also changed due to their background history or even due to familial relations.

The way this drama was made, you get a glimpse of what happens in the future (2015) and the "present" with flashbacks, all contributing to the full story which is revealed in the end. It is revealed at the beginning when you see the lawyer visiting Vito who is in jail. They reminisce and laugh and as they do so, we go back to the beginning where everything started. The rest of the drama is also shot in this kind of format. I found it pretty interesting because even though you do get hints, there are some surprising spots. I could even say it was inspirational. :) But yeah, all in all, it's a pretty good drama. Oh yes - the romance in the film is present, but it isn't the only thing.

You can watch this at either Drama Crazy or MySoju.
Picture taken from here.