''Fighting Girl'' is a

Japanese television drama , also called , are television programs that are a staple of Japanese television and are broadcast daily. All major TV networks in Japan produce a variety of drama series including romance, comedy, detective stories, horror, jidaigeki, thriller ...

starring

Kyoko Fukada is a very common feminine Japanese given name. Not to be confused with Kiyoko. Possible writings The final syllable "ko" is typically written with the kanji character for child, 子. It is a common suffix to female names in Japan. The first sy ...

Synopsis

Sayoko is a tough 19-year-old with ambition, energy and nowhere to direct it. Her father clearly favors her blind 16-year-old sister. Junior college is unstimulating. She is fired from her part-time job in a dress shop because she is too diligent at catching

shoplifters Shoplifting Shoplifting is the theft of goods from an open retail establishment, typically by concealing a store item on one's person, in pockets, under clothes or in a bag, and leaving the store without paying. With clothing, shoplifters ma ...

and slaps them around a bit when she does. Even her boyfriend opts out for a more docile girl, but Sayoko doesn't think she is tough enough. Coming home on the train, she nonchalantly puts on her makeup and changes her shirt, oblivious to the other passengers' silent glares, until Ami (

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

n actress

Yoon Son-ha Yoon Son-ha (; born November 17, 1975, Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do, South Korea) is a South Korean actress, singer and television personality (''gaijin tarento''). She is signed onto Sony Music Japan's SME Records division. Since making her debut in th ...

) confronts her. They stare each other down and Sayoko gets off. The passengers commend the Korean student but she scoffs at them too, asking, "Instead of praising me, why don't you say something yourself?" A few days later Ami is also the one who comes to the aid of Sayoko's sister, who has sprained her ankle when pushed on the platform. Ami can't understand whether the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese are kind or cold. They all look worried about you but no one steps forward to help, she tells the girl. In gratitude, Sayoko's poor father invites Ami for expensive

sushi is a Japanese cuisine, Japanese dish of prepared , usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of , such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is " ...

. She shows up with five friends to make things more cheery and in doing so shows a lack of

cross-cultural Cross-cultural may refer to *cross-cultural studies, a comparative tendency in various fields of cultural analysis *cross-cultural communication, a field of study that looks at how people from differing cultural backgrounds communicate *any of vari ...

understanding herself. Life gets more complicated when Sayoko goes to the beach to sulk and comes across a frustrated rich kid who she fends off with her considerable

kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sports, combat sport focused on kicking and punch (strike), punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is pract ...

skills. She loses her new belly-button jewel in the process, a guarantee they will meet again.

Cast

as Sayoko Yoshida *

as Ami Sō *

Aya Hirayama is a Japanese actress who has appeared in various films including ''Waterboys'' (2001) and Lovers' Kiss (2003). Hirayama was born in Kuroiso, Tochigi, Japan, which is now part of Nasushiobara. Aya made her acting debut in 1999 with '' Tengoku ...

as Fuyumi Yoshida *

Shigeru Izumiya Shigeru Izumiya (泉谷しげる ''Izumiya Shigeru'', born May 11, 1948 in Aomori, raised in Meguro, Tokyo) is a Japanese poet, folk singer, actor, tarento. He established the record company For Life Records with Takuro Yoshida, Yosui Inoue, and ...

as Mitsuo Kurimura *

Yūki Amami is a Japanese actress. Career Amami joined the Takarazuka Revue in 1987 and retired from the stage company in 1995. Amami was the youngest actress in the company's history to be cast in a top male role. As an , she belonged to the ''Moon Trou ...

as Shōko Mitsui *

Kenichi Hagiwara was a Japanese singer and actor. Music career Also known as Sho-Ken, he was the lead singer of The Tempters, which was a blues-rock band connected to the Group Sounds scene, and gained big hits in the late 1960s. Hagiwara was known for his go ...

as Yūzō Yoshida

References

External links

* * Japanese drama television series 2001 in Japanese television 2001 Japanese television series debuts 2001 Japanese television series endings Fuji TV dramas {{Japan-tv-prog-stub