Cat Street (2008)

If you're a fan of the manga this drama will frustrate you. Kuichi and Rei are smashed together into one character. Considering those two characters are polar opposites it makes the male lead unbalanced and unlikable. And since they needed to round out the number of people they created a completely new character. The ending with El Liston is also very different. I'm usually very forgiving when it comes to changes between the original and the drama/movie, but this time they just didn't make sense.

That being said Keito and Momoji are very well portrayed. The first few volumes of the manga are almost unchanged in the drama.

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Loved: Tanimura Mitsuki gives an excellent performance as Keito - the awkwardness and embarrassment of her character is conveyed well. Kurokawa Tomoka also does a good job as Keito's Lolita friend Momiji (although I think she looks too old for the role). The ending feels complete and is a natural progression of the story.



Didn't Love: I was disappointed the dorama wasn't as true to the manga it is based on as it could've been (they seem to have combined two characters into one and introduced a completely new one). Also, the ramifications of Keito's traumatic experience as a child aren't conveyed as well as they were in the manga. Similarly, the friendship/rivalry between Keito and Nako doesn't come across as complexly as it should. The cliché of a jealous, selfish rival is not new and adds little to the dorama.



Despite not living up to my initial expectations (those who haven't read the manga will probably enjoy the dorama more than those who have), Cat Street still manages to capture the original feeling of genuine friendship between the main characters. It can be a bit slow at times, has little comedy and a distinct lack of eye-candy - it's best suited to the serious viewer interested in the exploration of the complex feelings of the human heart.

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