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Child actors steal hearts—and ratings
Sakura Kinomoto, 9, and Syaoran Li, 11, are now familiar faces in the drama world. They play the younger versions of the protagonists in the famed drama Deus Ex Machina, where an ordinary civilian finds herself in the middle of a fierce government plot and has to race against time to save all she knows and loves.
The drama was not a show stealer at first, snagging in only 7% ratings. However, by the fifth episode, ratings shot up to 20% and even went into the high 30% by the eighth episode. Many speculate this is due to the child actors, who debuted in the fourth episode.
Shall we see if the ratings can break 40% viewership? It may not be a ridiculous goal with such talent.
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"Mooommm, you promised ice cream!" Sakura Kinomoto squeaked, swinging her hand in Nadeshiko's.
"I did, didn't I?" Nadeshiko said with a soft smile. "Very well. How about after this photo shoot?"
"But Mom, photo shoots are boring! I just stand around while old people order me to do this, do that..." Sakura frowned distastefully. "Besides, even Syao-kun won't be there! It'll be even more boring without Syao-kun!"
"Now, Sakura, you can do this," Nadeshiko said. "I'll take you to ice cream right after, okay? And I heard you'll get to wear dresses! Mr. Marr said so!"
Sakura perked noticeably at this statement. "Really? No more weird pants?"
Nadeshiko chuckled. Apparently Sakura wasn't yet at the age where 'cool' was a wanted look. "Not this time."
"Okay, I'll go."
Nadeshiko ruffled her hair and dropped her off at the studio room, leaving with a simple smile.
Sakura could never know that it would be the last time she saw her mother.
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"Syao-kun."
Syaoran stirred on the couch but did not wake.
"Syaaaaaooooooo-kuuuuuuuuuuun! It's Sakura! Wakey-wakey!"
"Five more minutes, Mom..."
"Hoe? Silly boy. I'm not your mom!"
Syaoran squinted and pushed himself to an upright position. He could feel the static in his hair as it rubbed against the couch. "Oh. Hi, Sakura-chan."
"Hiiiii, Syao-kun! Hey, look at this dress! Doesn't it look pretty?" Sakura spun. Syaoran's eyes glazed over at the many layers of burning pink that overwhelmed his vision. "I love it! It's my favorite out of all the ones so far."
"Ah," a sleep-deprived Syaoran said, rubbing his eyes.
"But Syao-kun, why are you here? I thought you wouldn't be at the photo shoot?"
Syaoran only yawned and lay back down. "Ask me later, Sakura-chan," he mumbled. "I'm tired."
"Oh. Sorry. Tell me later, 'kay?"
"Nn." And before he knew it, Syaoran was asleep. Sakura only turned and whisked away, searching for her next victim.
Then Syaoran's eyes snapped open and he sat up abruptly. "Wait! Sakura-chan! I have something to tell you!"
But she was already gone.
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"Mr. Marr, when's Mom coming? She said she'd take me to ice cream."
Julius Marr glanced down at the little girl by his side, his eyes filling with sorrow. The poor thing; she didn't deserve something like this happening to her.
"Well..."
The door flew open, and in rushed Touya and Fujitaka Kinomoto, foreheads sweaty but faces deathly pale.
"Touya? Daddy?" Sakura asked confusedly. "Why are you here? Is something wrong?"
Fourteen-year-old Touya stared at Julius Marr in disbelief. "Is it true? About Mom..."
Julius's face was etched with sorrow.
"What's wrong?" Sakura whispered, noting the tension in the air. "What happened to Mom?"
Fujitaka sank to his knees. "No. No. Julius, you can't be serious..."
"We received a call an hour ago." Julius bowed his head. "Her demise was immediately."
Demise. It sounded so familiar... but what was it? Sakura cast it around her head, but could not match up a meaning to the word.
Touya's face sank. Fujitaka only shook his head over and over again, whispering Nadeshiko's name.
"Dad, what's wrong?" Sakura whispered. "Did Mom... lose her job?"
A bitter laugh tore from Touya's throat. "If only."
"Touya," Fujitaka said sternly.
Touya only turned no his heel and strode out of the room... right as Syaoran sprinted in.
"Sakura-chan!" Syaoran gasped.
Then he felt the heaviness in the air, saw the pain in Fujitaka's expression, and realized his message to Sakura was going to have to wait.
He felt his cell phone buzzing in his front pocket and flipped it open. It was a text from his mother.
She's gone, Xiao Lang. Nadeshiko Kinomoto is gone.
Syaoran's eyes widened. All at once, a painful array of emotions washed over his body: extreme anger, overwhelming sadness, and a fierce desire to protect Sakura from all the pain in the world.
He walked over and slipped his arms around her. She was used to touching him, since they were often sparring in the drama—but the expression on his face was very confusing. His nose was all scrunched up, like he wanted to cry over something but wasn't sure how.
"I'm sorry," he choked, patting the top of her head. "Kami, Sakura-chan... I'm so sorry..."
She, confused, only smoothed the top of his brown head. "Shh, Syao-kun, it's okay..."
But it wouldn't be.
Not for a very long time.
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Kinomoto maintains breathtaking performances
It's amazing what a nine-year-old girl can do when she sets her mind to it.
The world held its breath when Nadeshiko Kinomoto, Sakura Kinomoto's beloved mother, passed away in a sudden car accident this past spring. Many wondered if the young Kinomoto would be able to get past this grief.
Amazingly, the accident did not hinder Kinomoto's acting skills, but propelled them. "I might have shed a tear or two when her character though [Syaoran Li's] character had died," Herbert Polonius, acclaimed critic, admits. "Her tears, her pain, affected me more deeply than any other performance this year. [...] I even forgot she was acting, and that is not an easy thing to do to a man like me."
The drama Kinomoto current acts in, Deus Ex Machina, is airing for 22 episodes and is hitting 40% viewership at just the sixteenth episode. Let us hope Kinomoto can keep up her spectacular performances.
(A/N: So it kind of starts off depressingly... but it gets better, I swear. The next chapter will begin in present time, when the two are adults. Look forward to it! ;)
What do you think of Nadeshiko? She probably came across as cliche, which I really didn't want to do... But since she has no character arc and was gonna die soon anyway, I figured that I'll just make her perfect for the tiny little scene she's in.
Thoughts? On Nadeshiko, Sakura and Syaoran, the plot...?)
Next update estimate: this weekend or middle of next week