Takumi and Yuna’s Relationship!!
One of the most touching scenes I witnessed in Rondo, is the part where Takumi could no longer contain the truth of his real identity. What stir him to reveal his true identity to Yuna is his mother’s encouragement words to him. I think after so many years of storing his urge for revenge, he had overlooked on his mother’s feelings. He did not expect his mother to be so forgiving……Yoshiko actually pleaded him to forget about his revenge as she had no longer bear any grudges or hatred on the people who killed her husband. She wanted him to get on with his life and look for happiness.
He was actually very frustrated when he decided to go “solo” but had failed to execute his plan to kill Ryuichiro (thanks to Isaki). He needs to release his pain and finally he took this opportunity to reveal to Yuna his real identity. In a serious tone, he said : "My name is Kanayama Takumi and I am not Shin-ku but a police. I am a Korean grown up in Japan and he revealed that his father was killed by Shin-ku." He was so detailed when he edited his name to Ka-na-ya-ma Ta-ku-mi (as he pronounced it in syllabus) in Yuna’s cell-phone. In case, we don’t meet again and even if meet again, please address me as “Takumi”, Takumi requested proudly.
While he had relieved himself of his confession, it had led Yuna to fear more and I believe, on the reverse, she was worried about his new identity due to her involvement in Shin-ku.
Yuna had secretly kept her real identity away from Takumi and fearing for the worse, she later found out that he is a member of Shin-ku and was it a relieve when he later confessed that he is actually a cop. After Akira revealed that for the sake of finding Yuna’s father, Takumi is planning to head back to Shin-ku. Akira pleaded Yuna and warned her not to betray Takumi or else she won’t forgive her. I can sense that her feelings and concerned for Takumi’s safety is real. Somehow the scene of Yuna speaking her lines (her confession of how much he meant to her) without pausing did not really justify her facial expression…or is it me that sense it? I felt she could have said her lines with more expressive emotions and concern (since she is supposed to plead) and the speech a little bit slower. Luckily, the immediate scene she was very natural as seen with her tears streaming down which blend well with her facial expression deciphering a tinge of sadness and an uneasy feelings and in my opinion, it safe her from the awkward position she had earlier portrayed………just my thoughts.
Just to highlight a discrepancy…….there’s one scene where Yuna revealed to Takumi that she liked him coz in Korean “cuai” means like……but was misinterpreted in the subs as “I love you”….the translation in Japanese if I read it correctly, actually wrote “love” instead of “like”. This confusion happens all the time even in other sub-titles of other dramas I’ve previously watched. Speaking on this, I noticed that in this drama, Yuna appeared to be more out-spoken and she initiated in revealing her feelings for Takumi. As for Takumi, I think he was not prepared to “fall in love” as his main mission is to help Isaki to destroy Shin-ku. He wasn’t concentrating much on the relationship as his priority sets him apart from how Yuna would have expected from him.
I am Song’s daughter, Yuna admitted. He was caught off-guard even though he suspected the expected truth could be real. His facial expression was well perceived as someone who had been shot right at his heart and he couldn’t believe his ears when she claimed that she has never loved him and her deceitful look did make us ponder at that moment….Did Yuna reveal her true feelings?? Actually, with so much to digest in an instant moment and while grasping to clear his mind, he had to face a group of gunmen brought by Yuna. It was a touching moment when Takumi called out YOOONAH……his magnetic pleading eyes and his voice sent out a message like …. ”please, fill me in I can’t bear the deceiving identity and is breaking my heart”. Takumi said: “If I were to die….I would rather die in your hands!” Yuna aimed the gun at his direction but she was or rather he was saved by some intruders. Phew! That was close!
After Yuna left, Takumi was left stranded with all sorts of unanswered questions….Kim Young Jae filled up the answers for Takumi. I think Takumi could no longer trust anyone and since Kim saved him (afterall he disclosed himself as a cop…like him!) ….it leaves him no choice but to hear him out….especially the discovery background of Yuna. Young Jae revealed that Yuna is an expert hacker and most of the hacking works in Shin-ku is executed by her. Remember the scene where someone hacked the police computer system and exchanged the data ~~removing Ryugo’s activities and framed Ryuichiro instead …indirectly placing poor dad as the culprit behind the activities of Shin-ku. That is how we discovered the extent of how much Ryugo hated his father!
With the influence of Yuna’s dad, Song, she was forced to delete Takumi’s personal data profile….While she is in the midst of deleting his profile, Akira was trying her best to copy all the files that Takumi had passed to Isaki before he died. Yuna apologized to her father that she couldn’t bring herself to do it and in the pretense of accepting her rejection, her father, a sly old-fox (oops! forgive my manners) pressed the “enter” key and OMO! TAKUMI doesn’t exist anymore …..and it sent Akira in a panic mood as she fumbled with the lap-top.
Takumi’s life is as good as “wiped-out” …gone for REAL… and while this is not enough for him to digest…he ended-up having to clear two hurdles ….first, he needs to find ways to clear his name as he was framed for the murder of his new Superior and second, he desperately need to find his REAL identity and with the erasure of TAKUMI’s profile, he needs to double up his effort to find his identity…otherwise he’ll be Shou, a member of Shin-ku till death.
Takumi was in a death-defying situation ~~ lost his direction ~~ was seen prowling around leading an aimless life as the police hunt him down. His alleged murder case was in the nation news!! That was the saddest part of the story and on the run with no way to hide….and no one to trust except Akira and no one can prove that he is Kanayama Takumi and not Nishijima Shou. Of course, as promised by Isaki (since young that he’ll protect Takumi), he left some important documents in tact (as was later discovered) ….to prove his real identity, Kanayama Takumi, the Police Officer! He finally did get the recognition he deserves as a Police Officer.
Yuna thought she was an expert in keeping his attraction in check, but she completely gets out of control when she found out that she was responsible of deleting his data profile. Both of them can’t deny their feelings for each other despite going through an extreme turmoil. They were cruising through life thinking they had it all worked out until one day they collide and expose each other’s blind spot. Their dating scenes were romantically scripted and the success of this drama stems from the chemistry between the two leading actors. However, the ending scene of both of them kissing was not passionate enough to satisfy our long-awaited smooching scenes …...
Most Thrilling Script….an adventurous discovery
In anticipation of the discovery of the location of the printing factory, I think I was just as curious as Takumi and Isaki and in fact I did my own calculation but was in for a shock when Takumi proved my own judgment wrong and the conclusive finding of the printing factory was inside a huge SHIP. Whewww! That was a pretty smart hideout… a mobile factory….and indeed a huge investment too for the production team to film that part of the scene….involving some extras and the helicopters etc etc….
Since this is a thriller and suspense drama, I shall leave some room for those who has yet to watch the drama some mysterious findings (now, if you had gone as far as reading the entire SPOILERS up till this stage, you might as well put yourself as a detective in crime solving…) ….and I am sure for those who had watched it …. need I reveal more!!!
Now, who would have guessed the following :
Who killed Takumi’s father?
Who instructed the killing of Isaki?
Who killed Kim Young Jae?
Who killed Ryuichiro?
The real identity of the two sisters, Yuna and Yuni ….who are they and their nationality??
Most Brilliant Scenes/Characters
I was totally spellbound by the great storyline and what really makes me scratched my head is how they managed to train a SUPER COP…like Takumi. He was blessed with abundance of smart genes…. an IT genius (how cleverly he gained access to the computer system… breaking password!!), a professional engineer (who reads plan and know exactly which wire to disconnect) and where did he inherit such super intelligent +++ amazing genes ~~ how he expertly manoeuvre with his cell-phone. I was really speechless when I saw how skillfully he keyed in all the characters….backwards...and in codes? This were all done without viewing the screen at all…..and if you’d notice, his hand is often tucked inside his overcoat…(that’s when his official work commences as he starts to “communicate” with Isaki through SMS). The best scene is the one where he was caught red-handed by Kim Young Jae. Little did he knows that by talking too long with Takumi (gee…while in his excitement of catching the mole, Kim Young Jae had forgotten to issue a spontaneous instruction “freeze”), the delay had allowed sufficient time for Takumi to send out the ASAP message to warn Isaki of the impending arrival schedule of the ship. Simply a heart-thudding scene which is more interesting than the aftermath fighting and kicking scene of Takumi and Kim.
It was amazing watching how Takumi discreetly and skillfully pressed his cell-phone’s key-pad ~~ simply astounding. After I had completed watching the drama, I couldn't shake off the idea of mastering the art of doing it. Seriously, I thought it’ll benefit me since I have this bad habit of driving with one hand maneuvering my steering wheel while the other is busy either sending/reading SMS. Of course, this is not my routine way of driving. Gosh! I probably can get away from being caught by the traffic police.
Do these intelligent cops like Takumi, REALLY exist in the real world? If there is any at all, perhaps I should consider joining the police force…..and my partner could be someone like Takumi and I wouldn’t mind Isaki as well…!!
I would like to add that the writer created few expert characters in RONDO…
There is Takumi, the SUPER-undercover COP, Yuna, the computer programmer wizlady…. specializing in hacking the cyberworld…in cognito as a musician and cook and Yuni who is into composing songs, Kobayashi-san, the expert printer and Song Gyu Hwan….a computer programmer had longed to “destroy” the cyberworld of financial instituition of Japan …. Geez! at his age he managed to conquer the computer world…. despite having less than confidence to do it himself. Alas, he accomplished his mission without Yuna’s assistance.
Conclusive summaries on (Casting, Ending & Credits) :
On Takenouchi Yutaka as Nishijima Shou/Kanayama Takumi :
I had previously watched quite a few of Yutaka’s Japanese drama and each of his work opens up a different dimensional view of his varied talents and I admired this gentleman for his versatilities. Yutaka’s intense performance on the drama is second to none.
I found some humour in Takumi’s character as he grumbled to himself adding some frustration with a hint of doubt in his facial expression….whenever he failed to communicate with Yuna…..he usually talked to himself and his expression is like ~~huh!what?!?wakarimasen??!~~
There are few emotional scenes which I had observed in his role as Takumi…one most prominent is his regretful expression he projected when he blamed himself for the death of Kobayashi, the printer. His teary eyes were very well expressed.
I must also highlight one of his outstanding performances which had been the way he displayed his heart-broken feelings when he found out the truth of Yuna’s identity (as described in my earlier comment). Adding salt to injury…she admitted that she had cheated on her feelings for him too. He was devastated and felt betrayed by her …. His world had just collapsed!
His feelings for Yuna was mostly kept inside his heart…he is a man of few words or perhaps the language barrier had added another hindrance. I like his dedicated, faithful and strong character and his portrayal as Shou/Takumi is relatively different from the usual Korean character I would have witnessed. He did not openly cry …Yes, he was seen in misty eyes and when she bade goodbye to him in Japanese “sayonara”… he did not on facing opposite direction with Yuna pulled her hands and said the usual lines “gajima”…please don’t go…the typical Korean scenario! That was the scene I make out to be where Yuna felt disappointed with him not because he came late for the appointment but her discovery of his real identity (thanks to Tokomi) as a member of Shin-ku. You see, he had lied about his identity and insisted that he was jobless. After hearing her outpour of frustration, he was silent …..his facial expression written over his face were feelings of remorse ….. and he just let her walked away.
I enjoyed watching his character as I am a bit drenched out of watching guys shedding tears and the endless fighting scenes between the leads which will eventually turn out to be lovers and the third party ala villain kind of storyline and the screaming of YAH!! In short, it was refreshing to watch this K-J production with a very mild touch of “koreanness” in it. After a long-hauled journey exploring the Palace and the “pee-GOONG’s string of mamas”, an adventurous trip to Japan surrounded with mafias and cops would be most refreshing and challenging. No offense to my fellow chingus ……and forgive my “grumbling and rambling” …..Mian hamnida….Gomen nasai!. …
The easy chemistry – warmth between Takumi and Yuna created a believable and loving/likeable couple. You’ll be rooting for them all throughout……and thank goodness there were no 3rd villain party involved…Well, maybe Tokomi did try to intervene but she did it subtly not like the usual harassing scenes. Needless to say, Tokomi failed to win Takumi’s heart and that is as far as she went ….distorting Yuna’s reputation.
I was totally drawn and mesmerized with Yutaka’s solid acting and his credible performance is really satisfying but I had one complain ….. missing some of the not-so-lovey-dovey+less-passionate scenes of both of them. Perhaps, the writer/PD has more to offer in their future collaboration….hope so…...but as of now, I have to settle for this ….**bigh sigh**
On Choi Ji Woo as Chie Yuna/Sakura Ai:
I won’t deny that I watched Rondo not solely because of Choi Ji Wo’s involvement but more on the reasons of my obsession on Japanese productions. But the urge of seeing CJW in an entirely different environment with my hunky Yutaka added my desires to the peak. Honestly, I don’t want to watch CJW in another similar character of Jeong Suh, Eun Soo or Yoo Jin~~~ enough of teary storylines. I want CJW to explore a fresh character…....and I really mean ANY characters other than above as long as she delivers her role convincingly, I shall be thrilled.
I stumbled upon two lucky stars ~~ as my wish to watch CJW in RONDO gave me not only one role but TWO roles…and another bonus not forgetting Sakura Ai…. one as Yuna, the sweet-natured and protective sister to Yuni, whereas the opposite Yuna’s personality took a horrific turn as a fiercely intelligent hacker who had agreed to help her father, Song to deliver their last professional services to Shin-ku not realizing his deceiving actions. Yuna was desperate to unify the family and innocently thought that Shin-ku will release her father after their mission is accomplished. One of her reasons that she needs to find her father is to fulfill Yuni’s wish.
I prefer her role as the restaurateur more than as a computer programmer. When she first appeared on the screen, there’s nothing outstanding to reveal but as she slowly opens up her role character, we are able to get-to-know her strong character and cheerful disposition (on her dating scenes with Takumi). She first ventured into Japan in a frustration mood as she tried to settle down in a foreign land facing different culture and language barrier. I like the fact the writer make her look uneasy as she struggled to learn Japanese language ….a very true scenario and if she reads the line without injecting any flaws that would look unreal. In fact it was her interest in Shou that stirred her to learn the language and I like the part where Shou (in a humorous mood he grumbled to himself again) corrected her mispronunciation.
I think she is more open in her feelings towards Takumi as she had initiated the first move in the development of their relationship. Takumi was rather shy and I believe he hesitated in pursuing her due to his commitment in Shin-ku and his mission too. The dating scenes at a shopping mall for “kimchi-fridge” and cell-phones, the tea session, fun-park thrill at the dancing-machine (don’t know the exact name), a visit at the dog bakery shop was all fun-filling scenes. In fact, I find her very beautiful and refreshing as she showed full contentment in life whenever she gets to meet Takumi. I like the way how she clipped her hair which gives me an impression that she look so sweet and charming and very youngish look coupled with her wardrobe, she looks some how younger than Takumi (dressing sense). It would be matching if only Takumi could trade in his smart-outfit with jeans and shirt (casual wear). I think the reason why Takumi is often seen in suits is because of his role as a member of Shin-ku (on call anytime).
The “yaksok” / promise locking of fingers initiated by Yuna shed some light hearted feelings and the facial expression of Takumi indicates shyness. He usually likes to reply with a simple “OK”!
If I am not mistaken, this is the first time, CJW portrayed a more-toned down character where crying scene is no longer a priority! The only glimpses I find which reflected her previous acting is on the part where she screamed at Kim Young Jae while holding a knife aiming at him as he terrorizes her family. Otherwise even her crying scene did not seem repetitive to me. Her transformation of role character in this drama had shown her versatility and she should be applauded for the convincing role as sweet and loving Yuna and the contrasting character of a fearsome hacker. It never dawn on me that I would get to watch Choi Ji Woo’s stunning scene of her aiming a gun at Yutaka (her black outfit perfected the shots). It was an awesome experience to watch her take on a much “heavier role” and I find it pretty interesting watching her holding a gun. Way to go, Ji Woo!
As much as I think she deserves recognition for her stellar performance, I don’t dare to claim Choi Ji Woo had earned the “ratings” based on her “solo performance” as it would only be justifiable to give due credit to all the rest of the cast who performed brilliantly in their respective roles ……(notably Yutaka who literally “stole” the show with his charismatic and excellent performance). Nonetheless, it is undeniable that Choi Ji Woo’s casting in Rondo did attract viewer ships….
By the end of the drama, I hope she had proved some critics or viewers wrong when she performed to a challenging role as Yuna aka Ai, a character which had finally given her an opportunity to declare……
”Choi Ji Woo has stepped out of her shell”…….
Credits should also go to the remaining cast :
Hashizume Isao as Song Gyu Hwan – He is a distinguished actor and I simply love his acting as Song and compared him to Ryuichiro, he has more screen time as being a 2nd key man in such a big corporation, he dictates most of the time and of course under the instruction of the king-pin, Ryuichiro. As the story goes, we discovered their relationship to a step higher ….. and as always, the 2nd man would have somehow some untowards feeling for his superior. We later learned that one who is a GOD, the dictator and if you spell god, the other way round, it turned out to be Song, the DOG….
He may have stubbornly refused to acknowledge his love for his adopted daughters but in my opinion, he did love them. The most touching moments of his life is on the scene where Yuni after learning her real identity thanked him for bringing her up and shall always remember him. That words touched him....and that’s how any human being would have felt the same…. even though he repeatedly denied he had ever loved them. His action speaks louder than words and as he did not execute the disastrous act of destroying the Japanese financial instituition…(hope the translation I read in the later part of the subs from other source make sense….). The PD cast the right man for the role of Song Gyu Hwan as his looks can be deceiving…sometimes I see him as a Korean …..and sometimes a Japanese.
Shin Hyun Joon as Kim Young Jae/Lee – Kim Young Jae’s character suits Shin Hyun Joon perfectly. Who else can portray a dark-sided character with his physical look and body?? His acting never fail to amaze me and the way he carries himself as a Korean Mafia in some of the scenes just stood out ~~ he looked so impressive as a baddie Kim and looked darn charismatic when he turned goodie cop as Lee. I think he despises Ryugo the most……as can be seen on their wittily sarcastic exchanges between them.
Again, he perished in his role character while executing his duties. This time he didn’t die because of Choi Ji Woo (Yuna) but during his official duties as a cop~~ uplifting justice.
Despite the fact that he reprises a similar character who had shown some feelings for the lead actress, his character as Kim had not delve much on his feelings for Yuna as compared to Han Jeong Suh in Stairway to Heaven. Sorry, just can’t help but compared. I admired him for accepting to play another 2nd fiddle role …he is talented enough to grab pole position but sadly not many PDs are keen to employ him as the main lead in a drama (maybe with a right script, he’ll be given a chance). However, he had shown his movie power ....some creating box office hits….Aja!Aja! Fighting~ Shin Hyun Joon Sshi! Your acting skill is most admirable and that’s how you’ll always be remembered …..definitely eligible to earn a STAR status…to me, that is!
Hayami Mokomichi as Kazama Ryugo – Watching Mokomichi in a serious role as Ryugo, I must admit he had shown maturity in his acting skill compared to his school boy character in Gokusen. In his character as Ryugo, some may find him manipulative, despicable and inhumane when he framed his own father but if you were to study his background, his father was the cause of how he was mould into someone full of anger and hatred. I can feel his hatred boiling inside him and his vengeance towards his father was appalling. In the end, there’s nothing to salvage the father/son’s relationship as his hatred piled up every time he meets him ~~ there was nothing he did that deserves a good mention.
He complained that his father had never hugged him ~~some thing he missed in his entire life. Eventually, you’ll get to witness a finale grasping of a desperate hug from his father but something you’d not have expected from. You’ll be in for a shock to discover the consequences of the father/son’s relationship.
Lee Jung Hyun as Chie Yuni – Yuna’s weakly sister suffered from a history of heart complication and she portrayed someone who has a penchant and talent for music. Yuna loves her sister dearly and because of Yuni’s wish to keep Justice, she negotiated terms with Takumi and finally settled with him on taking care of JUS on a sharing-basis. I read in one forum which had mentioned that Yuni’s character was irrelevant to the storyline. I beg to differ….without Yuni, there’s a missing character to share with us on Yuna’s feelings and plans. It’s common for most drama to add either sibling or best friend as a third party to introduce their background to the viewers. In this drama, we have Yuni to relate some of the important facts ……why Yuna should learn to speak Japanese and her growing desire to learn was teased by her sister….(Yuna’s interest was because of Takumi and not so much for other purposes). Through Yuni, we discovered that behind Yuna’s music talent, she is actually a computer genius and she led out the truth of the symbolic necklace as worn by Yuna and herself to Takumi. See there’s indeed a significant role of Yuni and her character contributes to the storyline.
Honestly, Lee Jung Hyun’s role did not give her much room to explore on her character any further than being laid on bed most of the time, she’s too frail to expose her talent, so-to-speak, I mean given a character as Yuni. As Lee Jung Hyun is more involved in her music career, I have no idea whether she’ll appear again in the small or big screen in the near future. However, it was good to see her team-up again with Choi Ji Woo in Rondo after Beautiful Days.
Summarizing the Reviews and Ending Credits
Overall the storyline is a ground breaking material and it will tug at your heart string strongly not solely owing to the music/plots/camera effect/superb performance and the awesome chemistry between Takumi and Yuna should be applauded despite the language barrier and custom.
The success of RONDO it’s a combination of the ambiguous of nature of the drama, really compelling storyline and strong performances by a terrific ensemble cast. All these things come together to make the drama what it is!! Indeed the entire performing cast is arguably one of the most famous actors in both countries.
Even if you are into romantic and not so much into gravity-defying blokes beating the hell out of each other, this drama still deserves a chance to watch! Indeed an adventurous drama where you’d get a chance to become “Mr Alfred Hitchcock” as you embark in resolving identities of not one character but few…..……raking your brains out.
There were many beautiful breath-taking choreographed scenes, and I get the feeling the production crew concentrates on effects and had also wonderfully captured the characters and setting to the best. Truly an awesome cinematography! The opening song, I Believe sung by Ayaka makes a grand entrance and the composition is already a clear winner. Sayonara as sung by Rui is another great song….the lyrics are very meaningful and so is I Believe…..
RONDO made headline news on their debut with a whopping 20% viewer ship rating. Even though it did not go beyond that during the entire screening, it manages to maintain its pace steadily at an average of 15%. The last episode achieved a grand finale of 17.7% rating. Congratulations to all the casts, PD, crew members and technical production team!!!
This drama is for keeps and I am planning to own a copy of the DVD yet to be released by TBS….a set which comes with extras of deleted scenes, commentaries and several behind-the-scenes features etc etc. The OST is also a must-have as I believe it will bring fond memories of the drama as you listen to the songs, music and the so-intriguing instrument piece too.
It was a meaningful, gratifying, captivating and entertaining experience watching RONDO……….
----- THE END -----
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Extracted lyrics of the song, “I Believe” appeared under” Expectation of the theme….” and “Soyanara” as below is translated (credit to ASABOU team) ………for the interest of RONDO fans…..…..
Sayonara…..
- In a dream, finger tips frozen
- The two of us woke up to a different mornings
- Leave those things in the place of yesterday
- Now that you have searched under this heartless sky
- Sayonara, sayonara (goodbye so long)
- In sorrow, I say to you the words goodbye twice
- Because of shadow and things, I do not know of light
- For love, anything is possible
- If I could see the stars leaving
- As time passes, each road fades away
- Sayonara, sayonara (goodbye so long)
- These two words of goodbye only brings tears which I cannot show
- Hand in hand, we believe in the future
- For love, anything is possible
- Because no one can give up love….
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THANKS TO FELICIA FOR ANOTHER GREAT REVIEW.... AFTER STH!
One of the most touching scenes I witnessed in Rondo, is the part where Takumi could no longer contain the truth of his real identity. What stir him to reveal his true identity to Yuna is his mother’s encouragement words to him. I think after so many years of storing his urge for revenge, he had overlooked on his mother’s feelings. He did not expect his mother to be so forgiving……Yoshiko actually pleaded him to forget about his revenge as she had no longer bear any grudges or hatred on the people who killed her husband. She wanted him to get on with his life and look for happiness.
He was actually very frustrated when he decided to go “solo” but had failed to execute his plan to kill Ryuichiro (thanks to Isaki). He needs to release his pain and finally he took this opportunity to reveal to Yuna his real identity. In a serious tone, he said : "My name is Kanayama Takumi and I am not Shin-ku but a police. I am a Korean grown up in Japan and he revealed that his father was killed by Shin-ku." He was so detailed when he edited his name to Ka-na-ya-ma Ta-ku-mi (as he pronounced it in syllabus) in Yuna’s cell-phone. In case, we don’t meet again and even if meet again, please address me as “Takumi”, Takumi requested proudly.
While he had relieved himself of his confession, it had led Yuna to fear more and I believe, on the reverse, she was worried about his new identity due to her involvement in Shin-ku.
Yuna had secretly kept her real identity away from Takumi and fearing for the worse, she later found out that he is a member of Shin-ku and was it a relieve when he later confessed that he is actually a cop. After Akira revealed that for the sake of finding Yuna’s father, Takumi is planning to head back to Shin-ku. Akira pleaded Yuna and warned her not to betray Takumi or else she won’t forgive her. I can sense that her feelings and concerned for Takumi’s safety is real. Somehow the scene of Yuna speaking her lines (her confession of how much he meant to her) without pausing did not really justify her facial expression…or is it me that sense it? I felt she could have said her lines with more expressive emotions and concern (since she is supposed to plead) and the speech a little bit slower. Luckily, the immediate scene she was very natural as seen with her tears streaming down which blend well with her facial expression deciphering a tinge of sadness and an uneasy feelings and in my opinion, it safe her from the awkward position she had earlier portrayed………just my thoughts.
Just to highlight a discrepancy…….there’s one scene where Yuna revealed to Takumi that she liked him coz in Korean “cuai” means like……but was misinterpreted in the subs as “I love you”….the translation in Japanese if I read it correctly, actually wrote “love” instead of “like”. This confusion happens all the time even in other sub-titles of other dramas I’ve previously watched. Speaking on this, I noticed that in this drama, Yuna appeared to be more out-spoken and she initiated in revealing her feelings for Takumi. As for Takumi, I think he was not prepared to “fall in love” as his main mission is to help Isaki to destroy Shin-ku. He wasn’t concentrating much on the relationship as his priority sets him apart from how Yuna would have expected from him.
I am Song’s daughter, Yuna admitted. He was caught off-guard even though he suspected the expected truth could be real. His facial expression was well perceived as someone who had been shot right at his heart and he couldn’t believe his ears when she claimed that she has never loved him and her deceitful look did make us ponder at that moment….Did Yuna reveal her true feelings?? Actually, with so much to digest in an instant moment and while grasping to clear his mind, he had to face a group of gunmen brought by Yuna. It was a touching moment when Takumi called out YOOONAH……his magnetic pleading eyes and his voice sent out a message like …. ”please, fill me in I can’t bear the deceiving identity and is breaking my heart”. Takumi said: “If I were to die….I would rather die in your hands!” Yuna aimed the gun at his direction but she was or rather he was saved by some intruders. Phew! That was close!
After Yuna left, Takumi was left stranded with all sorts of unanswered questions….Kim Young Jae filled up the answers for Takumi. I think Takumi could no longer trust anyone and since Kim saved him (afterall he disclosed himself as a cop…like him!) ….it leaves him no choice but to hear him out….especially the discovery background of Yuna. Young Jae revealed that Yuna is an expert hacker and most of the hacking works in Shin-ku is executed by her. Remember the scene where someone hacked the police computer system and exchanged the data ~~removing Ryugo’s activities and framed Ryuichiro instead …indirectly placing poor dad as the culprit behind the activities of Shin-ku. That is how we discovered the extent of how much Ryugo hated his father!
With the influence of Yuna’s dad, Song, she was forced to delete Takumi’s personal data profile….While she is in the midst of deleting his profile, Akira was trying her best to copy all the files that Takumi had passed to Isaki before he died. Yuna apologized to her father that she couldn’t bring herself to do it and in the pretense of accepting her rejection, her father, a sly old-fox (oops! forgive my manners) pressed the “enter” key and OMO! TAKUMI doesn’t exist anymore …..and it sent Akira in a panic mood as she fumbled with the lap-top.
Takumi’s life is as good as “wiped-out” …gone for REAL… and while this is not enough for him to digest…he ended-up having to clear two hurdles ….first, he needs to find ways to clear his name as he was framed for the murder of his new Superior and second, he desperately need to find his REAL identity and with the erasure of TAKUMI’s profile, he needs to double up his effort to find his identity…otherwise he’ll be Shou, a member of Shin-ku till death.
Takumi was in a death-defying situation ~~ lost his direction ~~ was seen prowling around leading an aimless life as the police hunt him down. His alleged murder case was in the nation news!! That was the saddest part of the story and on the run with no way to hide….and no one to trust except Akira and no one can prove that he is Kanayama Takumi and not Nishijima Shou. Of course, as promised by Isaki (since young that he’ll protect Takumi), he left some important documents in tact (as was later discovered) ….to prove his real identity, Kanayama Takumi, the Police Officer! He finally did get the recognition he deserves as a Police Officer.
Yuna thought she was an expert in keeping his attraction in check, but she completely gets out of control when she found out that she was responsible of deleting his data profile. Both of them can’t deny their feelings for each other despite going through an extreme turmoil. They were cruising through life thinking they had it all worked out until one day they collide and expose each other’s blind spot. Their dating scenes were romantically scripted and the success of this drama stems from the chemistry between the two leading actors. However, the ending scene of both of them kissing was not passionate enough to satisfy our long-awaited smooching scenes …...
Most Thrilling Script….an adventurous discovery
In anticipation of the discovery of the location of the printing factory, I think I was just as curious as Takumi and Isaki and in fact I did my own calculation but was in for a shock when Takumi proved my own judgment wrong and the conclusive finding of the printing factory was inside a huge SHIP. Whewww! That was a pretty smart hideout… a mobile factory….and indeed a huge investment too for the production team to film that part of the scene….involving some extras and the helicopters etc etc….
Since this is a thriller and suspense drama, I shall leave some room for those who has yet to watch the drama some mysterious findings (now, if you had gone as far as reading the entire SPOILERS up till this stage, you might as well put yourself as a detective in crime solving…) ….and I am sure for those who had watched it …. need I reveal more!!!
Now, who would have guessed the following :
Who killed Takumi’s father?
Who instructed the killing of Isaki?
Who killed Kim Young Jae?
Who killed Ryuichiro?
The real identity of the two sisters, Yuna and Yuni ….who are they and their nationality??
Most Brilliant Scenes/Characters
I was totally spellbound by the great storyline and what really makes me scratched my head is how they managed to train a SUPER COP…like Takumi. He was blessed with abundance of smart genes…. an IT genius (how cleverly he gained access to the computer system… breaking password!!), a professional engineer (who reads plan and know exactly which wire to disconnect) and where did he inherit such super intelligent +++ amazing genes ~~ how he expertly manoeuvre with his cell-phone. I was really speechless when I saw how skillfully he keyed in all the characters….backwards...and in codes? This were all done without viewing the screen at all…..and if you’d notice, his hand is often tucked inside his overcoat…(that’s when his official work commences as he starts to “communicate” with Isaki through SMS). The best scene is the one where he was caught red-handed by Kim Young Jae. Little did he knows that by talking too long with Takumi (gee…while in his excitement of catching the mole, Kim Young Jae had forgotten to issue a spontaneous instruction “freeze”), the delay had allowed sufficient time for Takumi to send out the ASAP message to warn Isaki of the impending arrival schedule of the ship. Simply a heart-thudding scene which is more interesting than the aftermath fighting and kicking scene of Takumi and Kim.
It was amazing watching how Takumi discreetly and skillfully pressed his cell-phone’s key-pad ~~ simply astounding. After I had completed watching the drama, I couldn't shake off the idea of mastering the art of doing it. Seriously, I thought it’ll benefit me since I have this bad habit of driving with one hand maneuvering my steering wheel while the other is busy either sending/reading SMS. Of course, this is not my routine way of driving. Gosh! I probably can get away from being caught by the traffic police.
Do these intelligent cops like Takumi, REALLY exist in the real world? If there is any at all, perhaps I should consider joining the police force…..and my partner could be someone like Takumi and I wouldn’t mind Isaki as well…!!
I would like to add that the writer created few expert characters in RONDO…
There is Takumi, the SUPER-undercover COP, Yuna, the computer programmer wizlady…. specializing in hacking the cyberworld…in cognito as a musician and cook and Yuni who is into composing songs, Kobayashi-san, the expert printer and Song Gyu Hwan….a computer programmer had longed to “destroy” the cyberworld of financial instituition of Japan …. Geez! at his age he managed to conquer the computer world…. despite having less than confidence to do it himself. Alas, he accomplished his mission without Yuna’s assistance.
Conclusive summaries on (Casting, Ending & Credits) :
On Takenouchi Yutaka as Nishijima Shou/Kanayama Takumi :
I had previously watched quite a few of Yutaka’s Japanese drama and each of his work opens up a different dimensional view of his varied talents and I admired this gentleman for his versatilities. Yutaka’s intense performance on the drama is second to none.
I found some humour in Takumi’s character as he grumbled to himself adding some frustration with a hint of doubt in his facial expression….whenever he failed to communicate with Yuna…..he usually talked to himself and his expression is like ~~huh!what?!?wakarimasen??!~~
There are few emotional scenes which I had observed in his role as Takumi…one most prominent is his regretful expression he projected when he blamed himself for the death of Kobayashi, the printer. His teary eyes were very well expressed.
I must also highlight one of his outstanding performances which had been the way he displayed his heart-broken feelings when he found out the truth of Yuna’s identity (as described in my earlier comment). Adding salt to injury…she admitted that she had cheated on her feelings for him too. He was devastated and felt betrayed by her …. His world had just collapsed!
His feelings for Yuna was mostly kept inside his heart…he is a man of few words or perhaps the language barrier had added another hindrance. I like his dedicated, faithful and strong character and his portrayal as Shou/Takumi is relatively different from the usual Korean character I would have witnessed. He did not openly cry …Yes, he was seen in misty eyes and when she bade goodbye to him in Japanese “sayonara”… he did not on facing opposite direction with Yuna pulled her hands and said the usual lines “gajima”…please don’t go…the typical Korean scenario! That was the scene I make out to be where Yuna felt disappointed with him not because he came late for the appointment but her discovery of his real identity (thanks to Tokomi) as a member of Shin-ku. You see, he had lied about his identity and insisted that he was jobless. After hearing her outpour of frustration, he was silent …..his facial expression written over his face were feelings of remorse ….. and he just let her walked away.
I enjoyed watching his character as I am a bit drenched out of watching guys shedding tears and the endless fighting scenes between the leads which will eventually turn out to be lovers and the third party ala villain kind of storyline and the screaming of YAH!! In short, it was refreshing to watch this K-J production with a very mild touch of “koreanness” in it. After a long-hauled journey exploring the Palace and the “pee-GOONG’s string of mamas”, an adventurous trip to Japan surrounded with mafias and cops would be most refreshing and challenging. No offense to my fellow chingus ……and forgive my “grumbling and rambling” …..Mian hamnida….Gomen nasai!. …
The easy chemistry – warmth between Takumi and Yuna created a believable and loving/likeable couple. You’ll be rooting for them all throughout……and thank goodness there were no 3rd villain party involved…Well, maybe Tokomi did try to intervene but she did it subtly not like the usual harassing scenes. Needless to say, Tokomi failed to win Takumi’s heart and that is as far as she went ….distorting Yuna’s reputation.
I was totally drawn and mesmerized with Yutaka’s solid acting and his credible performance is really satisfying but I had one complain ….. missing some of the not-so-lovey-dovey+less-passionate scenes of both of them. Perhaps, the writer/PD has more to offer in their future collaboration….hope so…...but as of now, I have to settle for this ….**bigh sigh**
On Choi Ji Woo as Chie Yuna/Sakura Ai:
I won’t deny that I watched Rondo not solely because of Choi Ji Wo’s involvement but more on the reasons of my obsession on Japanese productions. But the urge of seeing CJW in an entirely different environment with my hunky Yutaka added my desires to the peak. Honestly, I don’t want to watch CJW in another similar character of Jeong Suh, Eun Soo or Yoo Jin~~~ enough of teary storylines. I want CJW to explore a fresh character…....and I really mean ANY characters other than above as long as she delivers her role convincingly, I shall be thrilled.
I stumbled upon two lucky stars ~~ as my wish to watch CJW in RONDO gave me not only one role but TWO roles…and another bonus not forgetting Sakura Ai…. one as Yuna, the sweet-natured and protective sister to Yuni, whereas the opposite Yuna’s personality took a horrific turn as a fiercely intelligent hacker who had agreed to help her father, Song to deliver their last professional services to Shin-ku not realizing his deceiving actions. Yuna was desperate to unify the family and innocently thought that Shin-ku will release her father after their mission is accomplished. One of her reasons that she needs to find her father is to fulfill Yuni’s wish.
I prefer her role as the restaurateur more than as a computer programmer. When she first appeared on the screen, there’s nothing outstanding to reveal but as she slowly opens up her role character, we are able to get-to-know her strong character and cheerful disposition (on her dating scenes with Takumi). She first ventured into Japan in a frustration mood as she tried to settle down in a foreign land facing different culture and language barrier. I like the fact the writer make her look uneasy as she struggled to learn Japanese language ….a very true scenario and if she reads the line without injecting any flaws that would look unreal. In fact it was her interest in Shou that stirred her to learn the language and I like the part where Shou (in a humorous mood he grumbled to himself again) corrected her mispronunciation.
I think she is more open in her feelings towards Takumi as she had initiated the first move in the development of their relationship. Takumi was rather shy and I believe he hesitated in pursuing her due to his commitment in Shin-ku and his mission too. The dating scenes at a shopping mall for “kimchi-fridge” and cell-phones, the tea session, fun-park thrill at the dancing-machine (don’t know the exact name), a visit at the dog bakery shop was all fun-filling scenes. In fact, I find her very beautiful and refreshing as she showed full contentment in life whenever she gets to meet Takumi. I like the way how she clipped her hair which gives me an impression that she look so sweet and charming and very youngish look coupled with her wardrobe, she looks some how younger than Takumi (dressing sense). It would be matching if only Takumi could trade in his smart-outfit with jeans and shirt (casual wear). I think the reason why Takumi is often seen in suits is because of his role as a member of Shin-ku (on call anytime).
The “yaksok” / promise locking of fingers initiated by Yuna shed some light hearted feelings and the facial expression of Takumi indicates shyness. He usually likes to reply with a simple “OK”!
If I am not mistaken, this is the first time, CJW portrayed a more-toned down character where crying scene is no longer a priority! The only glimpses I find which reflected her previous acting is on the part where she screamed at Kim Young Jae while holding a knife aiming at him as he terrorizes her family. Otherwise even her crying scene did not seem repetitive to me. Her transformation of role character in this drama had shown her versatility and she should be applauded for the convincing role as sweet and loving Yuna and the contrasting character of a fearsome hacker. It never dawn on me that I would get to watch Choi Ji Woo’s stunning scene of her aiming a gun at Yutaka (her black outfit perfected the shots). It was an awesome experience to watch her take on a much “heavier role” and I find it pretty interesting watching her holding a gun. Way to go, Ji Woo!
As much as I think she deserves recognition for her stellar performance, I don’t dare to claim Choi Ji Woo had earned the “ratings” based on her “solo performance” as it would only be justifiable to give due credit to all the rest of the cast who performed brilliantly in their respective roles ……(notably Yutaka who literally “stole” the show with his charismatic and excellent performance). Nonetheless, it is undeniable that Choi Ji Woo’s casting in Rondo did attract viewer ships….
By the end of the drama, I hope she had proved some critics or viewers wrong when she performed to a challenging role as Yuna aka Ai, a character which had finally given her an opportunity to declare……
”Choi Ji Woo has stepped out of her shell”…….
Credits should also go to the remaining cast :
Hashizume Isao as Song Gyu Hwan – He is a distinguished actor and I simply love his acting as Song and compared him to Ryuichiro, he has more screen time as being a 2nd key man in such a big corporation, he dictates most of the time and of course under the instruction of the king-pin, Ryuichiro. As the story goes, we discovered their relationship to a step higher ….. and as always, the 2nd man would have somehow some untowards feeling for his superior. We later learned that one who is a GOD, the dictator and if you spell god, the other way round, it turned out to be Song, the DOG….
He may have stubbornly refused to acknowledge his love for his adopted daughters but in my opinion, he did love them. The most touching moments of his life is on the scene where Yuni after learning her real identity thanked him for bringing her up and shall always remember him. That words touched him....and that’s how any human being would have felt the same…. even though he repeatedly denied he had ever loved them. His action speaks louder than words and as he did not execute the disastrous act of destroying the Japanese financial instituition…(hope the translation I read in the later part of the subs from other source make sense….). The PD cast the right man for the role of Song Gyu Hwan as his looks can be deceiving…sometimes I see him as a Korean …..and sometimes a Japanese.
Shin Hyun Joon as Kim Young Jae/Lee – Kim Young Jae’s character suits Shin Hyun Joon perfectly. Who else can portray a dark-sided character with his physical look and body?? His acting never fail to amaze me and the way he carries himself as a Korean Mafia in some of the scenes just stood out ~~ he looked so impressive as a baddie Kim and looked darn charismatic when he turned goodie cop as Lee. I think he despises Ryugo the most……as can be seen on their wittily sarcastic exchanges between them.
Again, he perished in his role character while executing his duties. This time he didn’t die because of Choi Ji Woo (Yuna) but during his official duties as a cop~~ uplifting justice.
Despite the fact that he reprises a similar character who had shown some feelings for the lead actress, his character as Kim had not delve much on his feelings for Yuna as compared to Han Jeong Suh in Stairway to Heaven. Sorry, just can’t help but compared. I admired him for accepting to play another 2nd fiddle role …he is talented enough to grab pole position but sadly not many PDs are keen to employ him as the main lead in a drama (maybe with a right script, he’ll be given a chance). However, he had shown his movie power ....some creating box office hits….Aja!Aja! Fighting~ Shin Hyun Joon Sshi! Your acting skill is most admirable and that’s how you’ll always be remembered …..definitely eligible to earn a STAR status…to me, that is!
Hayami Mokomichi as Kazama Ryugo – Watching Mokomichi in a serious role as Ryugo, I must admit he had shown maturity in his acting skill compared to his school boy character in Gokusen. In his character as Ryugo, some may find him manipulative, despicable and inhumane when he framed his own father but if you were to study his background, his father was the cause of how he was mould into someone full of anger and hatred. I can feel his hatred boiling inside him and his vengeance towards his father was appalling. In the end, there’s nothing to salvage the father/son’s relationship as his hatred piled up every time he meets him ~~ there was nothing he did that deserves a good mention.
He complained that his father had never hugged him ~~some thing he missed in his entire life. Eventually, you’ll get to witness a finale grasping of a desperate hug from his father but something you’d not have expected from. You’ll be in for a shock to discover the consequences of the father/son’s relationship.
Lee Jung Hyun as Chie Yuni – Yuna’s weakly sister suffered from a history of heart complication and she portrayed someone who has a penchant and talent for music. Yuna loves her sister dearly and because of Yuni’s wish to keep Justice, she negotiated terms with Takumi and finally settled with him on taking care of JUS on a sharing-basis. I read in one forum which had mentioned that Yuni’s character was irrelevant to the storyline. I beg to differ….without Yuni, there’s a missing character to share with us on Yuna’s feelings and plans. It’s common for most drama to add either sibling or best friend as a third party to introduce their background to the viewers. In this drama, we have Yuni to relate some of the important facts ……why Yuna should learn to speak Japanese and her growing desire to learn was teased by her sister….(Yuna’s interest was because of Takumi and not so much for other purposes). Through Yuni, we discovered that behind Yuna’s music talent, she is actually a computer genius and she led out the truth of the symbolic necklace as worn by Yuna and herself to Takumi. See there’s indeed a significant role of Yuni and her character contributes to the storyline.
Honestly, Lee Jung Hyun’s role did not give her much room to explore on her character any further than being laid on bed most of the time, she’s too frail to expose her talent, so-to-speak, I mean given a character as Yuni. As Lee Jung Hyun is more involved in her music career, I have no idea whether she’ll appear again in the small or big screen in the near future. However, it was good to see her team-up again with Choi Ji Woo in Rondo after Beautiful Days.
Summarizing the Reviews and Ending Credits
Overall the storyline is a ground breaking material and it will tug at your heart string strongly not solely owing to the music/plots/camera effect/superb performance and the awesome chemistry between Takumi and Yuna should be applauded despite the language barrier and custom.
The success of RONDO it’s a combination of the ambiguous of nature of the drama, really compelling storyline and strong performances by a terrific ensemble cast. All these things come together to make the drama what it is!! Indeed the entire performing cast is arguably one of the most famous actors in both countries.
Even if you are into romantic and not so much into gravity-defying blokes beating the hell out of each other, this drama still deserves a chance to watch! Indeed an adventurous drama where you’d get a chance to become “Mr Alfred Hitchcock” as you embark in resolving identities of not one character but few…..……raking your brains out.
There were many beautiful breath-taking choreographed scenes, and I get the feeling the production crew concentrates on effects and had also wonderfully captured the characters and setting to the best. Truly an awesome cinematography! The opening song, I Believe sung by Ayaka makes a grand entrance and the composition is already a clear winner. Sayonara as sung by Rui is another great song….the lyrics are very meaningful and so is I Believe…..
RONDO made headline news on their debut with a whopping 20% viewer ship rating. Even though it did not go beyond that during the entire screening, it manages to maintain its pace steadily at an average of 15%. The last episode achieved a grand finale of 17.7% rating. Congratulations to all the casts, PD, crew members and technical production team!!!
This drama is for keeps and I am planning to own a copy of the DVD yet to be released by TBS….a set which comes with extras of deleted scenes, commentaries and several behind-the-scenes features etc etc. The OST is also a must-have as I believe it will bring fond memories of the drama as you listen to the songs, music and the so-intriguing instrument piece too.
It was a meaningful, gratifying, captivating and entertaining experience watching RONDO……….
----- THE END -----
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Extracted lyrics of the song, “I Believe” appeared under” Expectation of the theme….” and “Soyanara” as below is translated (credit to ASABOU team) ………for the interest of RONDO fans…..…..
Sayonara…..
- In a dream, finger tips frozen
- The two of us woke up to a different mornings
- Leave those things in the place of yesterday
- Now that you have searched under this heartless sky
- Sayonara, sayonara (goodbye so long)
- In sorrow, I say to you the words goodbye twice
- Because of shadow and things, I do not know of light
- For love, anything is possible
- If I could see the stars leaving
- As time passes, each road fades away
- Sayonara, sayonara (goodbye so long)
- These two words of goodbye only brings tears which I cannot show
- Hand in hand, we believe in the future
- For love, anything is possible
- Because no one can give up love….
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THANKS TO FELICIA FOR ANOTHER GREAT REVIEW.... AFTER STH!
Cant wait to see them together!!!!