[Current Drama July 2024] UMI NO HAJIMARI/THE BEGINNING OF THE SEA 海のはじまり-Ren Meguro; Izutani Rana; Shinobu Otake; Furukawa Kotone;

[MayanEcho]

Scans/screen grabs from the 1st day of shooting interview. @CarolynH, his Natsu college student hairstyle looks better compared to when he was Sou. I hope the stylists won't drop the ball on older Natsu's. 😅

 

Overall I'm liking his neat and casual, dressed for comfort ensemble as a student.

 

 

[MayanEcho]

Look where they filmed yesterday... 😮

What a beautiful sunset!

 

Ken Murase asks to look forward the beach scenes that were shot/filmed.

 

=> Mizuki said yes to Natsu?

=> Natsu proposes to / marries / honeymoons with Yayoi?

=> Overnight summer outing with Umi?

[MayanEcho]

Ken Murase thinks very highly of his cast and team. ❤️ 🌊

 

"We all went out for drinks after the location shoot for #TheBeginningoftheSea. As expected, this is a great team. Works are made by people. If the people aren't great, you can't make something good. As has always been before, I'm confident that this team can make something good too. Under the direction of main lead Meguro Ren, we will create a drama that will leave something in the hearts of those who watch it. For sure."

 

[Google/Bing translate w/editing for grammar/coherence]

[MayanEcho]

New cast members to be announced tomorrow! 🤩

 

Ken Murase also says there's someone he'd always wanted to work with who'll be playing a very important, axis role in the drama's story.

 

Who will be announced tomorrow? And who could this central character be?

 

My guesses:

1. Grandmother of Umi

2. Stepfather of Natsu

3. Mother of Natsu

4. Parent of Yayoi

5. Someone close to Mizuki, possibly someone Natsu also knows

[MayanEcho]

Ms Shinobu Otake, multi-awarded actress, is Akane, Mizuki's mother and Umi's grandmother.

 

[MayanEcho]

"The Beginning of the Sea

 

"Comment from Shinobu Otake, who plays Akane Nagumo

 

"I was very happy to hear that this is a team that meticulously creates dramas.

 

"Even though she is grieving, she will continue to nurture Umi whom her daughter left behind. I sincerely want to play Akane, who is thinking about how to make Umi happy.

 

"Together with everyone despite the heat, we will work hard to create a drama that will become memories of this summer."

 

[Google Lens/Bing translation w/editing for coherence]

[MayanEcho]

Character intro for Akane Nagumo

 

Cr: @umi_no_hajimari

 

"Akane Nagumo (Shinobu Otake)

 

"Since her only daughter, Mizuki, became a university student and went to Tokyo, she has been living a quiet life with her husband.

 

"One day, she learns that her daughter, who is still in school, is with child. Although she had a fierce argument with her daughter about what to do, in the end she decided to give birth and raised Umi on her own without informing the child's father.

 

"Just when the relationship between mother and daughter gradually began to be repaired, she was confronted with the fact that her precious only daughter would die before her.

 

"She felt that Mizuki was trying to spend her remaining time for Umi, and she then started thinking that she would live for her daughter and to make her wishes come true."

 

[Google/Bing translate with editing for grammar/coherence]

 

[MayanEcho]

Fifth cast member to be announced tomorrow 🥳

 

It should be the actress for Mizuki! 

 

[MayanEcho]

Confirmed July 1st airing, 9pm local time. First episode will be extended by 30 min. 🥳

 

[CarolynH]

D-28  Oh it starts July 1; I was thinking July 9

Thanks for all the update @MayanEcho 

I wonder when we will know the streaming site.  

[MayanEcho]

Mr Sosuke Isematsu, a film, television, and theater actor best known for his role as Higen, the young nephew in "The Last Samurai" 2003 movie, plays Tsuno Haruaki, co-worker of Mizuki.

 

"Tsuno has been by Mizuki's side as she raises Umi on her own, from work to picking her up from daycare.

 

"When Natsu turns up to Mizuki's funeral, unaware of what has happened over the past seven years, he couldn't hide his complicated feelings..."

[Google translation w/editing for coherence]

 

 

If this isn't "it's complicated" in soc med status lingo, I don't know what else to call it! 😅

 

I was expecting Mizuki, now I feel she'll be one of the last to be formally introduced (Mizuki => Umi => Natsu). 

 

I smell confrontations! And possibly hands thrown while they're at it!

[MayanEcho]

"The Beginning of the Sea

 

"Sosuke Ikematsu as Haruaki Tsuno

 

"What is a parent and child, and what does it mean for a person to think of others while living with the past, present, and future? I was very impressed with the script, which tackles this grand theme with care and heart, and takes on the dynamic challenge.

 

"I feel that it is a difficult role to play, but I hope that I will not decide beforehand that this is the kind of person I am or the role I will play until the end. Rather, I want to get to know Tsuno one by one over the long course of the season.

 

"We will do our best to make it a work that will be loved by many people, and that it will be a fun and memorable drama for everyone this summer."

 

[Bing translation w/editing for coherence]

 

[MayanEcho]

Haruaki Tsuno character intro 

 

Cr: @umi_no_hajimari

 

"Haruaki Tsuno (Sosuke Ikematsu)

 

"A colleague at the library where Mizuki worked after breaking up with Natsu.

 

"Tsuno has supported Mizuki and Umi not only in terms of work, but also in childcare and life in various situations, such as taking care of Umi when Mizuki can't be with her, picking up the child from the nursery school, and adjusting shifts.

 

"At Mizuki's funeral, when he was by Umi's side to keep her from being alone, he unexpectedly meets Natsu.

 

"Tsuno, meeting first time Umi's father whom he had only heard by name, learns that Natsu knows nothing about Mizuki's affairs, and says, "You really don't know anything about the past seven years."

 

"Tsuno, who can't sort out his emotions..."

 

[Bing translation w/editing for coherence]

 

  

 

Calling it now, this scene will be a scene to remember!!!

 

÷×+÷×+÷×+÷×+÷

 

Sixth character to be revealed tomorrow 6/6! 🤗

Producer Ken Murase says in one of his latest X posts that he was the one who asked Mr Sosuke Ikematsu to be a part of the drama, though he never expected him to actually agree. He thinks that there are expressions only Ikematsu can convey. He's looking forward to how he will play Tsuno, a man with a myriad of complicated feelings.

 

[MayanEcho]

Hello Mizuki.

 

Best actress awardee Ms Kotone Furukawa plays Mizuki, Natsu's college sweetheart and mother of Umi.

 

"She and Natsu met when they had just started college, and began dating.

 

"One day, just as they were about to start job hunting, Mizuki suddenly told Natsu something..."

 

[Bing translation w/editing for coherence]

[MayanEcho]

@CarolynH Do you remember that whimsical Botan in Yu Yu Hakusho? 😅

 

ctto

 

ctto

 

Now she's Mizuki. 😁

[CarolynH]

23 hours ago, MayanEcho said:

One day, just as they were about to start job hunting, Mizuki suddenly told Natsu something..."

What a cliff hanger!   What..what did she tell him?  That she no longer is interested in him so she wants to end the relationship?  July 1 come soon!

********

We should know the streaming site soon since we're about 3 weeks away.

 

[MayanEcho]

"The Beginning of the Sea

 

"Comments from Kotone Furukawa as Mizuki Nagumo

 

"Whether or not they become a family is a series of small coincidences and choices, and I think this work depicts a lot of the love that was put into those moments.

 

"Mizuki is a cool person who, in her own way, has loved all the people she holds dear in the short 27 years of her life. I myself, as the actress, admire her core strength, but at the same time, I also realized that this strength was Mizuki's awkward and weak point, and that she was living her life to the fullest even while she was wavering and faltering, which filled my heart with emotions over and over again.

 

"I will carefully portray Mizuki's life to the best of my ability."

 

[Google/DeepL/Bing  translation w/editing for coherence]

 

×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×

 

6 hours ago, CarolynH said:

What a cliff hanger!   What..what did she tell him?  That she no longer is interested in him so she wants to end the relationship?  July 1 come soon!

 

Spoiler

 

Breaks up with him. 😣 They were sophomore students that time, when  Natsu began looking for a job. They should also be around 20 at that time, the legal age in Japan to be considered an adult.

 

She might have felt saddling him with a baby would hold him back, so she chose to leave. That's her way of saying "I love you" to him, misleading and hurtful as it may seem.

 

The more in-depth details are posted in Umi No Hajimari website. 🙂

 

 

 

6 hours ago, CarolynH said:

We should know the streaming site soon since we're about 3 weeks away.

 

Aside from FujiTV, perhaps via Viki like Silent?

[MayanEcho]

Character intro for Mizuki Nagumo

 

Cr: @umi_no_hajimari

 

"Mizuki Nagumo (Kotone Furukawa)

 

"Mizuki is the mother of Umi, Natsu's college sweetheart.

 

"She and Natsu had just entered the university when they met at a recruiting event for new students. Mizuki was a little wary of Natsu who happened to talk to her, but when she found out that Natsu is also a first-year student, she suddenly smiled and spoke to him in a friendly manner.

 

"At first, Natsu thinks Mizuki is a strange girl, but he gradually becomes comfortable with her pace, and they found themselves talking to each other with smiles on their faces.

 

"In the summer of that year, the two of them started dating. But one day, when they were in their second year of school and about to start job hunting, Natsu hears something he had never imagined to hear from Mizuki..."

 

[Google/DeepL/Bing  translation w/editing for grammar/coherence]

 

Girl...  

 

Sigh. Did Natsu at any point say something about himself, or expressed some views to make Mizuki...? Or perhaps when she found out, she felt it was mainly due to her fault that it happened, hence she couldn't tell him?

 

So many questions...

[MayanEcho]

First teaser is coming soon! 🤗

 

 

[MayanEcho]

Oho, somebody was playing hide-and-seek in a school at Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. 

 

First teaser is showing tomorrow at 9pm plus new cast member/s to be revealed! 👏👏👏

 

Producer Ken hopes viewers will feel something from the characters Natsu, Yayoi, Umi, Akane, Tsuno, and Mizuki's expressions, movements, and gestures, as well as the video and music.