I am SO late to the party but I finally watched this show and... I have so many things I really need to say about it gah!
First of all - where the f was Yocchan??
I just watched the actual performance of appears in which she 'cries' (wasn't she sneezing/coughing or was that just a cover up?) and Yocchan is her ROCK. Seems he's been her cheer squad from the beginning. How good would it have been if there had been a Yocchan character in the show?? I heart Yocchan so much (bring back Yocchan!!)
But mainly, how one dimensional is Ayu in this drama?!
It's so depressing. I listened to the actual 'All night Japan' recording she did to promote the A Song for xx album release (it's really good, I recommend anyone to listen to it - it's on YouTube!) and she sounded nothing like she does in the drama. Yes she had a baby voice, but it was also a husky voice, and she wasn't just cute and naive, she was also cool. She was a loner who skipped school, got along better with boys than girls, and spent all her time in NY looking for new ways to 'asobu' (play/muck around) rather than going to training. Ayu is a really interesting person - she's not this flannel... The character development of Masa in the show is 10x that of Ayu - I mean even Reika has more character development (don't get me started on that ridiculous character).
I know the show isn't really meant to be non-fiction, but it annoys me a lot because the book was marketed as a 'non-fiction novel' and the show was marketed as based on the book. People will watch it thinking it's loosely based on fact and get an impression of Ayu (and of Max Matsuura) that is totally false. It's like rewriting history. How good would it have been to have a serious biographical show or film about Ayu? Sigh. The production values are so cheap as well. Just why? The wigs! And Kalen's expressionless 'live' performances
It's mean to say but she doesn't look like Ayu at all - her coloured contacts make her pupils look huge and her face is too round and her body type is very different. I feel like they only picked her for the round shape of her eyes (I mean she seems lovely, don't get me wrong)
Obviously I watched all 7 episodes though - like a trainwreck you just can't look away from haha.
I wonder what the reaction of the Japanese fan base was like...?