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a few old dramas
29 Dec 2017 05:37 pmIt's been a while since I've had the chance to just sit back and watch dramas, so we caught up with a few family-friendly shows over Xmas.
Kagi no Kakatta Heya | 鍵のかかった部屋 Avg 16.0%
I remember watching half of the first episode when it first came out. I don't know what stopped me - it might be Toda Erika's fresh-eyed Aoto screeching "su~~~mi~~~ma~~~sennnnn" down the street. I mean, I liked Ohno from Maou, I adore Toda Erika and I'm fond of Satou Koichi, but Toda's look was really daggy (even coming from SPEC and Aoto's recklessness was unbearable after her turns as shrewd detectives in BOSS and SPEC.
Fortunately, after getting through the first 2 episodes, the series settles into its own pace and quirks, and becomes a light on the gore but heavy on the mysteries crime solver. Enomoto Kei requires very little acting from Ohno, who deadpans the whole way, but he takes care to vary his expressionlessness so that you still get a sense of emotional change. The deadpan is a waste of Ohno's incredible comical talent, but altogether the series feels well put together and is well worth the 16% it rated. Definitely worth watching if you like mysteries that are light on the gore, and tonally it is quite similar to MatsuJun's 99.9, another highly watchable and family-friendly mystery solving comedy.
Shitamachi Rocket | 下町ロケット Avg 18.5%
I didn't realise this was part of the Hanzawa Naoki phenomenon, though I don't think that affected my choice of watching it. It is...very much in the formula of Hanzawa Naoki, Chiisana Kyojin, Riku Ou, full of over-acted villains and main characters prone to making long teary rallying speeches. What, I think, marks it unique is Abe Hiroshi as the lead character. I've only seen Abe before in Shinzanmono, where he played a much more reserved and confident character. I don't think per se that the main character Tsukuda is difficult to play, but Abe plays him with an incredible warmth and such genuine faith that it makes you root for him even as you secretly acknowledge how fictional this person is.
Much of what's rated well in Japan in the last few years have been these dramas about underdogs taking on big authorities and winning against great odds. It is the sort of fantasy that, probably, makes Marvel so popular across the Pacific. This is not to say the story doesn't drag or that there isn't plot holes or that the deus ex machinas aren't obvious, but it's one of those feel good series you can watch safely with the whole family knowing that the good guys and humanity will win at the end of the day, a version of reality that is much more likable than our own.
Kagi no Kakatta Heya | 鍵のかかった部屋 Avg 16.0%
I remember watching half of the first episode when it first came out. I don't know what stopped me - it might be Toda Erika's fresh-eyed Aoto screeching "su~~~mi~~~ma~~~sennnnn" down the street. I mean, I liked Ohno from Maou, I adore Toda Erika and I'm fond of Satou Koichi, but Toda's look was really daggy (even coming from SPEC and Aoto's recklessness was unbearable after her turns as shrewd detectives in BOSS and SPEC.
Fortunately, after getting through the first 2 episodes, the series settles into its own pace and quirks, and becomes a light on the gore but heavy on the mysteries crime solver. Enomoto Kei requires very little acting from Ohno, who deadpans the whole way, but he takes care to vary his expressionlessness so that you still get a sense of emotional change. The deadpan is a waste of Ohno's incredible comical talent, but altogether the series feels well put together and is well worth the 16% it rated. Definitely worth watching if you like mysteries that are light on the gore, and tonally it is quite similar to MatsuJun's 99.9, another highly watchable and family-friendly mystery solving comedy.
Shitamachi Rocket | 下町ロケット Avg 18.5%
I didn't realise this was part of the Hanzawa Naoki phenomenon, though I don't think that affected my choice of watching it. It is...very much in the formula of Hanzawa Naoki, Chiisana Kyojin, Riku Ou, full of over-acted villains and main characters prone to making long teary rallying speeches. What, I think, marks it unique is Abe Hiroshi as the lead character. I've only seen Abe before in Shinzanmono, where he played a much more reserved and confident character. I don't think per se that the main character Tsukuda is difficult to play, but Abe plays him with an incredible warmth and such genuine faith that it makes you root for him even as you secretly acknowledge how fictional this person is.
Much of what's rated well in Japan in the last few years have been these dramas about underdogs taking on big authorities and winning against great odds. It is the sort of fantasy that, probably, makes Marvel so popular across the Pacific. This is not to say the story doesn't drag or that there isn't plot holes or that the deus ex machinas aren't obvious, but it's one of those feel good series you can watch safely with the whole family knowing that the good guys and humanity will win at the end of the day, a version of reality that is much more likable than our own.
