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feeling: *shrug*
listening to: Sorimachi Takashi - Poison
Anyone for more J-drama reviews?
J-drama rambling ahead - consider yourself cautioned
I just finished watching Yasashii Jikan the other day, and I ended up growing quite fond of it, so I'll cover it first. The title pretty much sums up the mood of the drama - "yasashii" means gentle, kind, etc. This is indeed a very gentle drama. The story is simple, the pace is slow, the people are friendly, the settings are calm and quiet. It's certainly not a happy tale, and a lot of painful things happen in it, but somehow it still manages to be very calming to watch. Of course, many people have argued that Yasashii Jikan is painfully boring for the very same reasons. I guess I had an easier time getting into it because it stars an actor I like. But still, I quite liked the relaxing, cozy feel of the whole thing.
The story... is hard to describe, really. This drama is more about creating a mood than telling a story, I think. But it does tell one - that of an estranged father and son who gradually enter each other's lives again under coincidental circumstances. It begins with a flashback in which we learn the basis of the whole story - Yukichi, the father, lost his wife in a car accident in which his son, Takuro, was at the wheel. Yukichi then moved to his wife's hometown of Furano, Hokkaido, where he opened a little coffee shop called the Forest Clock. Later, unbeknownst to him, Takuro moved to another town in Hokkaido about an hour's drive away from Furano, and is learning the art of pottery. Takuro occasionally runs errands in Furano, but he never visits his father, convinced that the man has no interest in seeing him. On one such day, Takuro encounters a young woman named Azusa in a Furano supermarket, and they become good friends over time. Later he learns that Azusa works for his father at Forest Clock, and likewise she learns that he is her boss' son. But still, father and son are both convinced that the other has no desire to see him again... even if they both really do.
But again, this drama is more about the mood than the story. It does tell the story quite well, but very slowly, and the rest... well, it does center around this little coffee shop in the middle of nowhere. So in addition to Takuro and Yukichi's story, there are plenty of smaller stories and stories-within-stories contributed by the people who frequently visit this little shop. Yukichi himself often says that he was very lonely after his wife died and he parted ways with his son, but he soon found happiness in his interactions with the people who come to his shop every day. Hence the overall cozy, down-home feeling. Admittedly, there were a couple moments in the series where I wanted to sort of push things along when one such conversational scene went on a little too long, but overall these moments of relaxed, friendly interaction over a good cup of coffee suit the drama's atmosphere perfectly. Another contribution to this quiet, calm mood is the GORGEOUS Hokkaido scenery. Absolutely breathtaking. I wanna live there. But yeah... there's also the soundtrack, which is equally slow, quiet, and calming. Even the main characters have soft, friendly, welcoming faces and personalities. In fact, the biggest surprise to me in this drama was Yukichi, the father - I was expecting him to be a cold, hard-hearted man when I read in advance about his estrangement from his son, but he was in fact quite warm and gentle... even lonely in a quiet, introverted way.
Those who prefer a lot of action or a deep, one-drama-after-another story might find this one to be a bit boring. But for anyone seeking a break from all the standard series that are too hectic, too lovey-dovey, too depressing, or even too cheerful, Yasashii Jikan is a lovely change of pace. One of the actors once commented that it should be enjoyed like a good cup of coffee - taken in slowly and properly savored. And again, as I said before, in my case it might have helped that this series starred an actor that I already liked - Ninomiya Kazunari. One of Matsumoto Jun's bandmates, but probably an even better actor, he's even appeared in a Hollywood film that was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar in 2007. He's also about a year younger than me, but eternally 12 years old. >> He's got the short stature, the porcelain skin, the soft fluffy hair, the high-pitched voice, the sweet innocent look... and the bratty attitude. And he's a master at crying on cue. But yes... I did like Nino's acting before I watched Yasashii Jikan, but I still think this is the kind of drama that could make first-time viewers grow to like him too. He works well in the Takuro role. Yukichi was also remarkably well-played, I believe. Azusa was... a bit of a drama queen, honestly... but not enough so to spoil the relaxing mood of the drama. It all meshes together quite smoothly.
So that's Yasashii Jikan... now, shall I bounce back to one of those opposite extremes? Perhaps a bright, cheerful one, for a change? Well, sort of anyway... but I'll get to that.
Since I was very curious about this drama before watching it and still found it quite different from what I expected after reading some reviews in advance, I believe I'll expound a bit on the infamous Nobuta o Produce. To be honest, this one is sort of aimed at a younger audience... but it has enough good qualities to make it enjoyable to pretty much any age group. It is rather bright and cheerful in that it's about friendship and growing up together and all that sappy high school stuff, but it also has some dark undertones of isolation and extreme bullying and harsh betrayal and the like. Another fascinating attribute is the lighting. Sounds weird, yes, and I don't really know how to explain it... but it's bright and illuminating at all the right moments, yet it can also be quite dark and dismal, also at all the right moments. The soundtrack covers the same extremes - some BGMs are all bright and peppy, others actually feel slightly creepy. But in a cool way.
The story itself seems cliche, but is surprisingly unique in its presentation. There are three main characters; the first one we meet is Kiritani Shuji, who is the most popular and loved guy in school on the outside but actually quite... well, almost heartless, on the inside. Next is the comic relief character to end all comic relief characters - Kusano Akira, who constantly acts either drunk or stoned and loves to follow Shuji around calling him his best friend (much to Shuji's chagrin). I like this guy, honestly. He's funny. *cough* Anyway... then a new female student, Kotani Nobuko, shows up in their class. Nobuko is backward, downcast, quiet, stuttery when she does speak, and seems to have a dark, lonely aura surrounding her everywhere she goes (remember those lighting effects I mentioned earlier? shadows are quite remarkable things when used well). She instantly becomes the target for bullying in her class. Shuji takes an interest in this Nobuko for a really random, bizarre reason involving a construction zone and a willow tree (seriously, it's that random), and decides to try to make her popular, or at least more like a "normal girl." And of course, since Akira follows Shuji around everywhere, he ends up involved too. Hence, Shuji and Akira declare that they will "produce" a new Nobuko and make her the most popular girl in school. They even give her the code name Nobuta ("buta" meaning pig, so of course cute little cartoon pigs are sort of the symbol of this drama). Sounds like a cheesy, cliched high school makeover tale, right? But I was honestly surprised by the way it played out. I never would've predicted that ending, either.
Overall, for a high school drama, Nobuta o Produce is actually a pretty enjoyable story that develops in unexpected ways. Not a terribly deep story, but by no means shallow; unpredictable, but not so much so that it ends up a pointless mishmash of randomness. If nothing else, there's plenty of humor in it. Akira himself is funny enough for about 10 dramas, if you ask me. He's like Miyavi without the rampant arrogance. :p Oh, and for some reason I love the ending theme, Seishun Amigo. I really can't explain why... can't figure out what the lyrics have to do with the series either... but I love it.
Hmm... how about one more? Simply because the above review reminded me of another school drama I liked, Gokusen. Now, Gokusen is a subject of debate among J-drama lovers because it has SO much in common with GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka), which is possibly the most popular J-drama of all time. Some have called it a watered-down, teenybopper version of GTO... and actually, I suppose it is. But for some weird reason, I enjoyed it more than GTO. Maybe because the students had more interesting personalities, I dunno. But yes, it is another drama aimed at a younger crowd, and it is admittedly a little repetitive here and there, but it still tells a different story in each episode and develops its characters very well. And one of the leads is Matsumoto Jun, who later played Momo in Kimi wa Petto. His character in Gokusen is 100% different from Momo, but performed just as proficiently.
The most basic description for this story? Yamaguchi Kumiko is the granddaughter of a Yakuza boss, and has dreamed all her life of being a teacher. So she gets a teaching job at an all-boys high school notorious for being populated by troublemakers. Already sounds a lot like GTO, where the main character was a former gang member who dreamed of being a teacher and ended up teaching a class full of delinquents. But one major plot difference is that Yamaguchi, nicknamed Yankumi by her students, must keep her Yakuza background secret at the risk of losing her job. So for all appearances she's a normal, even plain, sort of dorky-looking young woman... but when the need arises, she's capable of taking out a whole group of gangsters in one fell swoop. That particular feature is a bit exaggerated in the Gokusen drama, and gets a bit repetitive as she saves the day in the same way in almost every episode... but hey, as I always say, dramas aren't meant to feel too real. This one especially focuses a lot more on silly humor than on tugging at heartstrings (though it manages to do that every now and then too).
Anyway, at first it seems as though Yankumi will never be accepted by her homeroom class, which just happens to consist of the nastiest delinquents in the school. But she refuses to give in. Heck, she was raised by the mob; what can a bunch of high school boys do to her? So, as she quite obnoxiously worms her way into her students' lives, she begins to earn their respect and even friendship, and learns that deep down they're really pretty good guys. The main group of students she deals with the most consists of the big-bodied and big-mouthed Kuma, the geeky and somewhat spazzy Noda (young Narimiya Hiroki! yay!), typical punks Minami and Uchi (young Oguri Shun! more yay!), and the moody little ringleader who's bigger in attitude than in stature, Sawada Shin (Matsumoto Jun, go figure). Each of these characters sort of stands out from the rest of the class as they're the ones who get their own personal stories throughout the series.
Of course there are other mini-stories in each episode that involve other characters, such as the other two female teachers and the impossibly annoying vice principal (or head teacher? I forget...), and a few members of Yankumi's mob family. All of these stories are executed quite well, I believe. It all adds up to a pretty engaging drama, even if many characteristics are a bit exaggerated. But hey... I'm a sucker for character development, and Gokusen has that in spades. All the lead actors do a great job filling out those characters too. This drama actually introduced me to two of my recent favorite actors, Narimiya Hiroki (also appeared in Orange Days, Ai no Uta, Stand Up, and the movie Last Quarter) and Oguri Shun (also appeared in Summer Snow, Stand Up, the new Hana Yori Dango, and believe it or not, GTO). Yankumi's actress, amazingly, is a dead ringer for the Yankumi character in the Gokusen anime and manga. Kuma, whose name appropriately means "bear," is just downright lovable once you get to know him. And darn it, Matsumoto Jun steals the show again with those piercing eyes and giant smiles of his. Cocky and bratty as he can be, that boy is one heck of a piece of eye candy an actor.
Aaaaannnnd I think that'll be enough for tonight. I'm running out of dramas to review... *hears resounding sighs of relief*
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 3/03/2007 09:45:00 PM
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