Mana Ashida

I watched some of Mana's movies and series. As everyone knows, the acting skill of this little kid is unbelievable, especially in Mother (2010), but I didn't know that she also sings. I just watched her first concert (2011?) and she is again unbelievably amazing. To update Immanuel Kant's famous words: Three things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe ...: the starry heaven above me, the moral law without me, and the cuteness of Mana Ashida, out there in Japan.

So, I'd like to share the link in case someone is interested.

Regarding kid actors and especially actresses, there is a possibility that as grown-up, they lose, more or less, their popularity. I'm not sure why this happens, maybe they are not seen as cute and beautiful as before, or maybe, at some point, they lose their motivation and want to experience other aspects of life. I think this has happened to Mirai Shida to some extent, but I really hope this won't happen to Mana, as she is exceptional in many respects.

P.S. I searched the forum to find previous discussion on Mana. I'm sure that people here have talked about her, but couldn't find anything. 

You're welcome! I'd like to introduce Mana to people around me. In fact, I kind of feel responsibility for that, she is too good to be missed:)

 I'm a big fan of Japanese films. In fact, I started with some famous Korean ones, but quickly shifted to the Japanese. Honestly while I find Japanese ones emotionally so warm, I have the opposite impression regarding Korean ones (surely not all of them). They seem to me so cold and emotionless. At some point, I'll take courage and explain why I think so. Considering the popularity of Korean cinema, I expect that not much after, they kick me out of MyDramaList forums:D

 kura2ninja:

Korean dramas are big here. Korean movies? Definitely more popular here on MDL than Japanese ones, but less so than TV shows ;)

Yes, you're totally right. I meant Korean dramas. It's sad when you see an excellent Jdorama  not getting enough attention, but then a terrible Korean re-make of it got lots of praise:)

Haha, when 

 The blue sky:

Yes,I agree with you..that's why I didn't watch the Korean remake of "Mother" (because the original one is perfect for me)

Hahaha, when I said that about Japanese dorama and its Korean remake, I had specifically "Mother" in mind. The Korean version is terrible in my opinion (however I like its ending better, as it's more reasonable). But even if everything else was fine, you couldn't watch Mother without Mana Ashida; she made any successful remake impossible.

 The blue sky:

I thought the ending of Korean remake are the same as the original one..yup,I can't imagine watching Mother without Mana Ashida..it feels incomplete if she is not there..

No, the ending is totally different. My problem with the ending of the original version is not that it's not happy. After all, we fans of J-dorama get used to sad and tragic endings. My problem is that it's unrealistic, or at least, unnecessarily self-torturting. Why cutting all contact with her daughter, especially after all Tsugumi's phone calls and travelling the whole country? I'll definitely write about it in this forum, even though no one might pay attention to it:)

I feel sorry for the Korean child actress or anyone who wants to do what Mana did!

Oh, now I noticed that why in the Korean version, the girl is older, 9 years old! They changed the age and many other relevant facts to not let their viewers compare her actress with Mana, as the comparison affects their series really badly!

I finally watched some episodes of Our House. I'm not an expert on this, but anyway, I think she did a really good job.  There are problems with the story which make it unrealistic and hard to believe. And this is not made for even with best acting. Mana kind of has to take the responsibility , as she is the main character and the whole story revolves her.  As far as Mana herself is concerned, I enjoyed seeing her playing  roles other than cute little kid.

Hi, no problem!

My focus in more on the storyline, I don't know much about acting and other artistic aspects, also I haven't watched enough series and movies to see enough an actor/actress' work, but if I want to talk about my uneducated opinion, I can say that I love Yukie Nakama (and Hiroshi Abe) in Trick so much, also Hikari Misushima (Woman, Soredemo, ikite yuku, ...), and Erika Sawajiri in 1 Litre of Tears. I can possibly add more but because it's mainly on single or just few works, I don't think it means a lot. How about you?

Shes the Dakota Fanning of Japan.