The Kodai Family was a feature film released in 2016 with Haruka Ayase and Takumi Saito as leads. At the time, dTV Channel (Avex) released Kodai Family’s People SP, a two-part drama, a sort of prequel/spin-off which was, just like the movie, based on the manga Kodaike no Hitobito (高台家の人々) co-starring Nana Komatsu and Mamiya Shotaro in the lead roles.
Unlike most actresses of her generation, Nana Komatsu seldom appears in TV series or drama. Although it is quite possible that shooting schedules are not compatible with her activities as a model (magazines, Chanel events, CMs etc…) it is more like a personal choice. In an interview for Cinema Today (May 2019) the actress confessed she found long filming sessions in different places and with a lot of different people more rewarding…
Kodai Family SP is not as interesting as Yume wo ataeru or Thrill! The Black Chapter and The Red Chapter, however fans of the actress will surely find it pleasant enough.
The two episodes are really hard to find on the Internet. So far, I’ve only seen Thai-subbed and French-subbed versions. From time to time they’re available from dTV’s Video On Demand Service (fee applies)
Used copies of the DVD can be found for a very reasonable price from Yahoo! Auctions, Book-off stores, Rakuten or even Amazon Japan.
Plot: The story takes place 30 years before the movie. Fukamaru Yuko (Komatsu Nana) is a 4th year student at a prestigious private university. There she meets Koudai Shigemasa/Masao (Mamiya Shotaro) who has just transferred from Oxford. One day, Yuko’s best friend Nao and Masao decide to go out together. However, Masao cheats on her and Yuko helps to get them back together. A week later, Masao decides to confess his feelings to Yuko.
trailer and making of
Selection of vidcaps
From the making of
Sources: Dogaru (French) – DTV Kodai page – Cinema Café – Harunana – Kodai Family Pequel (N.K.France)
N.K. International 