Nakashima Mika - 「LIFE」 - Theme song to 『LIFE』

Popular Shojou Manga artist/writer すえのぶ けいこ/Suenobu Keiko's stories share a common powerful theme which seems to resonate well among her loyal readers (both female and male alike). いじめ/"Ijime" (bullying) has been an ongoing social crisis and sensitive issue confronting Japanese schools and the public for years. It seems that every month the Japanese media reports on yet another tragic suicide of a young student (some as young as elementary school aged) who has been the victim of physical and psychological abuse at the hands of fellow classmates and sometimes even their own teachers. Suenobu has poignantly addressed the problem in most of her manga works ever since her debut series 『ビタミン』/"Vitamin" (2001) and most recently in her series 『リミット』/"Limit" (2009-2011) and which has also been adapted into a live action TV Drama series currently airing on TV Tokyo's late night 「ドラマ24」showcase program. 

The subject of ijime seems to hold a personal connection to Suenobu and is something that she is passionately concerned about. Nowhere has this been more apparent than in Suenobu's brilliant manga series 『ライフ』/"Life" which ran in the girls' weekly manga magazine 『別冊フレンド』(Bessatsu Friend) from 2002-2009. It is perhaps her most critical and celebrated work on the subject having garnered various accolades for its hard-edged and sobering story. The story's heroine 椎葉歩/Shiiba Ayumu was unique in that she started out as your typical high school student who was actually good friends with her abuser, 安西愛海/Anzai Manami in the beginning but then through a series of unfortunate misunderstandings ends up incurring her unrelenting wrath. Yet despite the ever increasing intensity of the abuse Ayumu suffers at the hands of her former friend and her underlings, she decides to fight back and stand up to Mana.

Sample page of Suenobu Keiko's manga "Life" - Image courtesy of www.mangagate.com

Banner art for the "Life" Manga - Image courtesy of http://kc.kodansha.co.jp/content/top.php/1000000171

It was just a matter of time before the 20 volume manga series was adapted into a live-action series. 『ライフ』 the TV series debuted on June 30, 2007 to much anticipation and fanfare. While the TV series did differ from the original manga in certain aspects (Ayumu’s “arm cutting” self-mutilation problem is not addressed for example) and certain plot points were modified, it still managed to remain quite faithful to the source material even retaining all of the unnerving and almost terrifying aspects of abuse that Ayumu goes through.

Promotional Banner Ad for "Life" TV adaptation - Image courtesy of http://hiki-review.tumblr.com/post/3872627216/review-life-live-action

Image courtesy of http://ameblo.jp/black-jun/theme-10004007281.html

While Kitano Kii/北乃きい, (who made her acting debut in this series) portrayed the heroic and spunky Ayumu and was clearly the heroine of the series, it was Fukuda Saki’s/福田沙紀 chilling and dark portrayal of evil rich girl Mana that really made the most impact in the show. Fukuda’s villainous bitch Mana could be seen as one of J-Dorama’s greatest villains of all time (ranking up there with scumbag factory owner 竹上光輔/Takegami Kosuke (Danta Yoshinori/段田安則) and his sadistic enforcer henchman 竹上三郎/Takegami Saburo (David Ito/デビット伊東) from 『聖者の行進』/”Seija No Koushin” (1998); twisted playboy school teacher 藤村知樹/Fujimura Tomoki (京本政樹/Kyomoto Masaki) from 『高校教師』/”Kou Kou Kyoshi” (1993); Criminal mastermind 海槌麗巳/Mizuchi Reimy (高橋ひとみ) from 『スケバン刑事』/"Sukeban Deka" (1985); Retsudo/柳生烈堂 crazed leader of the Yagyu Ninja Clan (played alternatively by 高橋幸治/Takahashi Koji、西村晃/Nishimura Kou & 佐藤慶/Sato Kei) from 『子連れ狼』/"Kozure Okami" (TV Series - 1973); Sukeban leader Azuma Ryoko/東涼子 from 『ヤヌスの鏡』/"Janus No Kagami" (1985) and the vindictive mother-in-law 田倉清高/Tanokura Kiyo (森和子/Takamori Kazuko) from the acclaimed NHK series 『おしん』/”Oshin” (1983).

Shiiba Ayumu (Kitani Kii) the heroine of "Life" - Image courtesy of http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/sakaki332001/folder/215995.html

True Evil - Anzai Manami (Fukuda Saki) - Image courtesy of http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/maimi_bibatennis03420/24041164.html

While 細田よしひこ/Hosoda Yoshihiko’s psycho pretty boy character 佐古克己/Sako Katsumi was more along the lines of your typical over-the-top J-Dorama villains (complete with tell-tale facial tics and crazy-eyed stares), Fukuda’s portrayal of Mana was much more scarier in that it was more subtle and calculating in nature. Mana’s disarming beauty coupled with her manipulative and cunning personality proved to be a deadly combination as she was not only was able to elicit the sympathies and support of her classmates (Mana would feign body injuries and blame them on Ayumu) but was also able to enlist the aid of the school faculty to further torment Ayumu (Mana would blackmail 瀬戸朝香/Seto Asaka’s stern teacher 戸田和佳絵/Toda Wakae into framing Ayumu for breaking various school rules). Mana’s unapologetic attitude was clearly evident in one memorable and pivotal scene where when she is confronted by crusading teacher 平岡正子/Hiraoka Masako (酒井美紀/Sakai Miki) and asked why she is so cruel to Ayumu, Mana candidly (and with a sadistic smile) answers “because it is fun” (Mana would eventually have Hiraoka dismissed from the school through the efforts of her influential father).

The Cast of "Life" - L-R - Hoshi Nanase, Sakai Miki, Maya Miki, Kitano Kii, Fukuda Saki, Hojo Takahiro & Seki Megumi

Fukuda’s unflinching and unflattering portrayal must really been an emotionally grueling experience for her as her later roles such as Yatterman No. 2 in Miike Takashi’s 『ヤッターマン』/”YATTERMAN” (2009) and 若槻葵/Wakatsuki Aoi in the drama series 『メイド刑事』/”Maid Detective” have been much more sympathetic and humorous roles although she did go back to playing another darker role in the TBS drama series 『カルテット』/”QUARTET” (2011).

Image courtesy of http://redracer.wordpress.com/2007/09/01/covers-to-some-new-september-releases/

Image courtesy of http://orangeiro.pixnet.net/album/photo/62397554-%E4%B8%AD%E5%B3%B6%E7%BE%8E%E5%98%89-life

Nakashima Mika’s/中島美嘉 single 『LIFE』 was appropriately selected to be the theme song for the series. It would mark the third time that one of Nakashima’s songs was selected as a theme song to a drama series (the other songs used were 「見えない星」(2007) which was used for the series 「ハケンの品格」/"Haken No Hinkaku" and 「WILL」(2002) which was used for the series 『天体観測』/"Tentaikansoku". “Life” would prove to be one of Nakashima’s top selling hits since her single 「GLAMOROUS SKY」which was used for the cult Anime series 『NANA』(2005). The song would reach No. 3 on the Oricon charts for its release month and rank in as No. 57 on their year-end chart rankings for 2007. Composed by 高柳恋/Takayanaki Ren and music producer ヒロイズム（her0ism）with arrangements by JUNKOO, it is said that the lyrics were influenced from the Manga source material and that it’s theme of 「命」/”life” was meant to inspire and encourage people to fight back against all of life’s obstacles and hardships no matter how daunting they may be.

"Life" is a sometimes grueling series to watch, especially with Ayumu being subjected to so much mean-spirited bullying but the story is so engaging and Kitano Kii and Fukuda Saki's performances as Ayumu and Mana are so electrifying that it makes for compelling viewing.

While the "Life" TV series is available on readily on Japanese DVD as a box set, Suenobu Keiko's source manga is somewhat more difficult to find especially the English translated version. TokyoPop had released a translated versions of the manga up to Vol. 9 but after Kodansha had dropped their licensing contract with them, the translated mangas were left in limbo (2008 was the last release).  TokyoPop has since disbanded and it is unlikely that the series will be completed in English form which is unfortunate as it definitely deserves to be translated and distributed.   

Suenobu is currently working on another series called 「HOPE」(released this past May) in which the main heroine is a manga artist.  I'm definitely curious to read that story.  It will be interesting to see what the live action version will be like and who will star.  Perhaps Fukuda Saki, who appeared in the NHK series 『平清盛』/"Taira Kiyomori" (2012) and is set to star in the upcoming 『潔子爛漫〜きよこらんまん〜』/"Kyoko Ranman" (2013) would be an interesting choice.

Ad for Suenobu's current new manga title "Hope" - Image courtesy of http://mantan-web.jp/2013/02/13/20130213dog00m200030000c.html

TokyoPop's translated versison of Suenobu Keiko's "Life"