Haikei, Chichiue-sama

Synopsis:
A young apprentice chef works in a ryotei in Kagurazaka (a neighborhood of Tokyo known for its geisha houses). He is the son of a former geisha, now bar owner and the title of the series is dedicated to the letters that he writes to his unknown father. Most of the show takes place in the small ryotei with the other chefs, waitresses and the family owners. The background music is soothing and reminds me of another drama that I can't recall. The peaceful, small town mood of the dorama reminds me of Honey & Clover the anime (not the drama -- if the drama had managed to create the mood of this series it would've been infinitely more successful). It's a slow paced drama with hints of comedy -- good for an older female audience.

Main Characters:
This is a character driven drama -- in the genre of drama (although there are many humorous elements). The characters are very attractive (Naomi is actually very physically attractive). Because they are all so likable I empathized with each one of them. Even when there were conflicts between the characters it was hard to choose one side.

Conflict #1:
Between the okami-san "old boss" and her daughter the "new boss". The old boss was a consort to a powerful politician. This politician dies early in the series and the effect of his death is not only effects the family emotionally, but also financially. While he was alive he helped to support, through his influence, his lovers restaurant, Sakashita. With his death and the changing times, the mother and daughter fight over the fate of the restaurant. Should they hold out and try to preserve the old ways of the neighborhood or should they realize their fate and change along side the neighborhood. Despite how abrasive the 'new boss' is, you do feel for her having to assume so much of the responsibility of keeping the restaurant afloat -- and ensuring the livelihood of her family and the staff. The old boss is portrayed as much more loving and likeable, but really quite naive. The mediator between the two is Ryuu-san, the head chef. He has a calmness and reasonableness about him that seems to almost repel high strung people like the new boss. And he can see both sides of this dilemma - he loves Sakashita and all that it stands for, but realizes that financially it can't afford to remain in it's current state.

Conflict #2:
Between new boss and Yukino-chan, Ippei's mother (and everyone else). The new boss is a bit difficult and the most interesting scene is when she pretty much cusses out Yukino-chan and tells her just b/c she's had a child doesn't mean she's fit to be a mother. And what does Ippei do when his mother is being spoken to this way?? Nothing. As usual. But the new boss doesn't limit her crotchiness to just Yukino. She directs it at her husband as well. He unfortunately just takes it for the most part -- he seems beaten down by life. Her daughter is just as confrontational as her mother, but as of yet isn't as caustic. The daughter and mother b/c of their similar personalities. And let's not get started with the way she treats the waitresses. She's insufferable.

Conflict #3:
Between Yukino and Ippei. This one is simple to explain. Yukino does not tell Ippei who is father is. She doesn't tell anyone who the father is. Ippei, as he gets older, feels he has a right to know -- Yukino doesn't agree. When Ippei thinks that the writer is his father and Yukino refuses to confirm or deny, these two stop speaking. It's sad, but not terribly, b/c it's the sort of disagreement that parents and children get into and get over. You really see how much Yukino loves Ippei, despite her sometimes reluctance to express maternal feelings. It's sweet.

Conflict #4
Between Ippei and 'ojou-san' aka Eri. (and her family) I think you're supposed to feel sorry for Ippei as he inadvertently finds himself as the most likely suspect to become the husband of the new-boss's daughter. But, I didn't feel sorry for him. He was ridiculously oblivious and his inability to speak, if it will ruffle feathers, leads to him really hurting Eri's feelings. The old boss has set up a date between Ippei and Eri for Christmas eve. Even after he finds out that this is not just a friendly or familial meeting, it's a real date -- he can't tell Eri that he's not interested in the same way. Instead he gives his dopey roommate his ticket and tells him to meet Eri while he goes on a date with a girl he actually likes.
Now enters the most memorable one of all: Karasawa Naomi (Kuroki Meisa). She is the most beautiful Japanese woman I have seen in the dozens of doramas that I've watched. I am saddened when I think that the reason that I think she's so beautiful is because she looks Eurasian (although she is not). But that's still not enough to not be awed by her. The one thing that's a bit odd is that she looks years older than her mere 20 years of age. So, when looking at her and Ippei, who looks young for his age, they almost looked the same age -- but in some scenes she looked more mature....


I don't back the ending....Not at all! How can a show call itself successful when it does that. I understand the desire to not tie everything up at the end, but it should tie up some of the loose ends. For example we know that Ippei and Naomi spend the next 3 months together, but what happens after that? Do they stay together despite the distance? Does he move to Paris to be with her? Do they break up?? What the hell happens?
And then there are the 2 fundamental questions of the series: 1) Who is Ippei's father? 2)Does Ippei choose to work at the New Sakashita (thereby accepting the changing Kaguraza). These critical questions: one which the title of the show is based on, the second which the theme of the show is based around -- neither of them are answered! How bogus!

Bottom Line: As I'm writing this I realize how much I didn't like Ippei. He doesn't do anything. He seems incapable of making a decision on his own. And he doesn't ever stand up for himself or others. He's really very very lame. But all of the other characters are very interesting.

Around 40

I love the shows that focus on older women or men still looking for love. And this was another good one. So good I think that I watched the entire season over only two days.

Characters:
Ogata Sakoto: The main character is a woman who is 39, a psychiatrist and still single. It's shameful to say that it took 9 episodes for me to realize that I had seen her before -- in Queen's Classroom. She's quite head strong and enjoys doing things by herself, but realizes that she would like to have children someday and has not given up on the possibility that she will be married -- despite her dropping market value. Her declining stock was described in a funny scene when she goes to a "marriage bureau" (kind of like a dating service but with marriage being the end goal -- like a face-to-face eharmony?) There was even a graph showing how steep the drop-off is after 35 and past 40 it was almost like you should just get yourself a single apt. in an old folks home.

Okamura Keitaro: The main guy I recognized right off from his role in Proposal Daisakusen as the love rival. He looks much older and sophisticated in that show. Here he looks young and really much less cute, except for the episode when he wears a suit. :yummy: He is really strange in this show - a bit overly fixated on conservation (turns off lights, brings his own chopsticks, rides his bike even in the rain, etc.) This rigidity of his causes conflict between him and many other people in his life - including his many ex-girlfriends. He is introduced to the show b/c he joins Satoko's staff as a psychologist. While psychologists in the US are trained doctors, it seems that in Japan it's a less prestigous position, perhaps a bit more akin to a social worker.

Synopsis:
The story focuses on the budding relationship between Satoko and Keitaro (Okamura-san). It starts off purely professional with some conflict around his methods for healing -- moves into a friendship as they realize they share the same taste in comedy shows -- and then culminates with the difficulties of navigating a relationship where the woman makes more money and is more prestigious. The ending is really quite sweet and believable. They are two characters with very strong personalities and you want them to succeed without sacrificing who they are -- and that happens.

Unlike many other dramas that I've seen there are two fairly well developed sub-plots in this show.
a) The second plot surrounds Satoko's high school friend - who is the exact opposite of Satoko. Mizue was married early, has a child in his teens and her life revolves around her family and domestic duties. As the show progresses she realizes that she has lost her identity along the way and tries to figure out how to balance her family responsibilities while creating a life of her own as well.
b) The third plot is around a younger friend (unclear how they know her) who is an up and coming magazine editor. After she is passed over for a chief editor job she decides to change her anti-marriage position and marry a famous/wealthy many who has been after her. Not surprisingly this was not the best move for her to make and she spends the show pretending to be happy to others while trying to figure out how to make the best out of a bad situation. - I could actually empathize with her character. If work is all that you have and that begins to not go your way, it seems like it's natural to want to find another way to define yourself. Wife/mother is not a bad way to do that, if it that is an option.

Overall: I liked this show. I learned about male-female social dynamics in Japan - and that it's not terribly different from what happens here in the states when the woman is more successful than the man. Definitely a nice peaceful story, probably more attractive to older female viewers.

Drama Updates

I can't believe that with all of the doramas that I've watched that I only have 5 blog posts up here. You can see my growing list of watched dramas on the left with my overall ratings, but I don't know what's going on with the actual completion of posts.

I have progressed so far into my lists of j-dramas to watch that I'm thinking of switching over to Korean dramas for a bit (someone recommended them to me - although I think they're more of the romance genre).

Well, I'll keep doing what I'm doing and hopefully I'll be able to speed up my chronicling of these shows...we'll see.

Security Police - SP

I don't know why I was under the impression this show was a comedy. Because of my difficulty understanding how it could possibly be funny I put off watching this show for a while. However, after making my way through my 2007 "to see" list, I didn't have any other choices.

Synopsis: This is NOT a comedy. It's quite a serious drama about a man who is in the Security Police force (kind of like secret service, except with much less props) and who has heightened sensory awareness. He also has a tragic past that of course links to the main plot throughout the show. The series is not episodic, outside of the first episode, the arcs are each 3(-4) episodes long. The final arc is strangely delivered with a "0" episode giving a bit of back story before ?? joins the SP.

Storylines
1) One episode about protecting a female VIP - I think she's a Diet member. This episode only serves the purpose of giving the viewer a more detailed understanding of Inoue's special skills. There are also a couple of recurring bad-guy characters that make their debut in this episode.

2) The second story is about a group of ex-military "terrorists" taking control of a hospital (most important an ex-prime minster) for the purpose of conducting some sort of stock trade to make money. Some fun fighting scenes here. I guess this show could be classified in the action genre -- at least this arc is. I thought it was interesting that the last episode of this arc introduced us (albeit briefly) to the bad guys of the next arc. Interesting way to segue...

3) The next story (episodes 5-7) is about protecting a potential witness from being killed. He's a participant in some sort of financial/securities fraud. He's not a terribly sympathetic character, despite the fact that he spends much of the time crying. -- I think this might be becuase he's so unattractive. But we do get to "see" the 2 most attractive characters in the show -- his wife and daughter are constantly shown close up in a picture that he keeps near his bed. They are both really cute! I guess we are to assume the wife is with him b/c of his money. And the daughter reminds me of the cutest child actress I've seen in j-doramas, Mukaichi Mion. I was actually thinking about her before this storyline -- I wonder what she looks like now. I want to see her in more stuff! She's so kawaii!!! The story actually has an unresolved ending, which caused it to be the most interesting. Knowing that the hit men are still after the witness, the team is forced to abandon him b/c he's no longer being protected by the DA (equivalent) office.

4) The final story pulls it all together, this time the team is to protect the Prime Minister. We see a reappearance of the knife-wielding bad guy from the first episode and much more "action". *eh* The getting shot scenes were funny mainly b/c of how badly the scene was acted. At least we get some understanding of who is behind all of the plots...it is a nice lead-in to the special (which I haven't yet watched but will add when I do)

Overall: I was surprised that there were no attractive people in this series. I think this is the first dorama that I've watched in which none of the characters were much above average. However, this did not stop me from watching the entire series in one day. I clearly have too much time on my hands! This feat was made easier by the fact that each episode is shorter than a traditional drama. The first 4 minutes of each episode consists of a recap and the intro. And then the episode ends after 36minutes (instead of the normal 42). I don't know why I watched it all other than a curiosity around such a highly praised drama. I was under-whelmed.


Bonus Episode: Argh! It had so much recap that I just couldn't get through it. It went through every single story line in an attempt to find out whether or not Inoue was involved in the plot to assassinate the Prime Minister. I thought it was going to be a continuation from the last episode of the season when we find out who is really behind the coup -- and maybe they did discuss that somewhere in the special, but I just couldn't justify sitting through 1.5 hours for 1 hour of stuff that I had already seen. Maybe I'll get back to it later -- but that's doubtful.

Monster Parent

I am very behind in my blogging of dramas. I will start with the most recent I've watched and work my way backwards.

"Monstah Parent-to"

That's the approximate pronunciation of the phrase mentioned over and over again in this drama about a pretty and successful civil attorney who does consulting work for the Board of Education - helping them solve disputes between schools&teachers and the parents.

The premise is actually not terribly interesting. What grabbed me about this drama was a description of the attorney that I read... she was described as being very well dressed. I love seeing Japanese fashion so I started watching this drama.

Characters
I was surprised to see a familiar face, Yonekura Ryoko, in the main role - Takamura Itsuki. I had just seen her in Koshonin. She looks really different in Monster Parent. Her hair has been lightened, I think, and she dresses in much more brightly colored clothing. Because of these things she's really pretty in this drama - where she's just good looking (in my opinion) in The Negotiator.

Another familiar face to me was Hiraoka Yuta. He was also in the drama 'Proposal Daisakusen'. His character in MP is much different. He was a bit of a playboy in PD. Here, he's quite a pathetic figure. He's young and quite insecure about his professional abilities. Addtionally, he has an unstated crush on Takamura-san.

The third familiar face, is the man of many supporting roles, Sasaki Kuranosuke. Bambino, Saitou-san, Iryu (see previous posting).... He again is in a pretty lame supporting role. I wonder what makes him not likeable enough of an actor for him to get a starring role. Perhaps it's his relatively plain looks. Unlike - Kusakari Masao - what an attractive older man. He looks somehow ethnically ambiguous, and his looks are made even more attractive by his sexy Japanese.


Overall
This show was pretty episodic in nature and some of the conflicts between the parents and the schools were pretty idiotic --- or maybe it was just the over-acting of some of the parents. In any case, this show was watchable entirely due to Ryoko. Her clothes really were fabulous and I watched each episode just to see what she would wear next. If someone is not really drawn in by pretty clothes, I'm not sure that this drama would be of much interest in either the comedy or drama elements. Oh - there was one more upside. I learned a bit more about Japanese culture. 'monster parent' really is a term used for overly demanding parents and there are several articles out there about this growing phenomenon. Also, I learned a bit more about what is expected of Japanese elementary school students. Another example of the struggle between traditional values (i.e. teachers being in charge of the development of children in an out of class) and more Western values (i.e. individuality, parental responsibility, etc.)