シンデレラになりたい！ (I Want to Become Cinderella!)

Title: Cinderella ni Naritai
Genre: Romance
Episodes: 1
Broadcast network: TBS
Completed Airing?: Yes


"A person can’t change their appearance or shape. Unfortunately, no matter how hard you try, you just can’t change. The kind of face you end up living with is up to fate. And those who get the lucky ticket will have good luck everywhere. They’ll probably be liked by many, and have countless numbers of chances to be loved back. If only I could change…"

Kuramochi Bon (Yasunomi Sano) is ugly. There's just no way around it. All his life he has been tormented and teased because of his face. He spends his life working at a burger joint as the local trash boy, mocked by everyone. All he can do is look at everyone else and wish that he was as pretty as they, a dream he knows is impossible. One day Bon is told to go to the neighboring town for three days and pretend to be the Legendary Man Narumizaka Ken (Ohkura Tadayoshi of Kanjani8) in order to boost lagging sales at one of the company's stores. Narumizaka Ken and Kuramochi Bon could not be farther apart in appearance; Narumizaka is the idol of the burger chain, and women stand in line for two hours just to have him take their order. Bon knows that there is no way he can be the Legendary Man, not with his face. But when a crackpot doctor bribes Bon with a magical potion to keep Bon from reporting him when he runs Bon down with his bike, Bon knows that this is the only chance he'll ever have to be beautiful -- a chance that will last only three short days.

I absolutely adore this drama. It's short, only an hour-long special. I think the fact that it isn't millions of episodes long is part of its charm, though I would have liked it to be a little bit longer, because it is just that cute. When Bon goes to work at the other store, he meets the girl of his dreams and goes with her on a date, though he knows that the clock will strike midnight and soon he will turn back to his ugly, unloved self. Perhaps it's cliche, but Bon is one of those truly good people who is kind to others, whether he's tying a ribbon onto a child's finger to keep him from crying or wading into a river to get a bear for some kids that dropped it, even though the kids grew tired of waiting and left.

I watched this drama once a number of months ago and then again a couple of nights ago, and I loved it both times. I daren't say anything more about why I love it for fear of spoiling the rest, so you'll just have to watch it and see for yourself. All I will say is that, despite its shortness, this is a drama that really connects with people. It's easy to fall in love with Bon and the girl he likes, and, for risk of sounding cheesy, it leaves you with a warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

And yes, the insert song is indeed Sheryl Crow.

Cinderella ni Naritai Official Site