Drama Review- Yamato Nadeshiko

Please don't confuse this drama with Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge (Perfect girl evolution). Yamato Nadeshiko means a perfect japanese woman. This is a popular j drama starring Nanako Matsushima and Tsutsumi Shinichi. Both won television academy award for this drama. It had around 26% viewership. It is one of the popular j dramas.

Matsushima Nanako grew up in a very poor family and is thus determined to marry a rich man so that she will never have to go through poverty ever again, and is named the "gokon queen" in her quest to find her man. Tsutsumi Shinichi is a brilliant academic (Fields prize winner - Nobel Prize equivalent in Mathematics) who gave up his studies to take over his deceased father's fish-shop. They meet through a doctor's "gokon" (group date) and she falls in love with him under the mistaken assumption that he is a very rich man... --Edwina Wong

The first episode is amusing. Nanako Matsushimna's visits to gokon are pretty funny. She greedily eyes every man's hands to find a rolex watch, his pocket to find a horse racing badge and his side to see if he has a car. She advises her colleagues to look for these things in a man. She meets Tsutsumi Shinichi in a doctor's gokon and starts courting him believing that he is a rich man. She leaves her fiancee Higashijyugo san for Tsutsumi Shinichi believing that he is a better catch.

The first two episodes go quite well with Nanako Matsushima believeing that Tsutsumi Shinichi is a rich guy who bets on horses, earns a lot and lives in a large house. The horse betting pin is only borrowed from a man who lives in that big house that Nanako Matsuhima mistakes for his.
Tsutsumi Shinichi is a workaholic who was pursuing PhD when his girlfriend left him because she told him she couldn't see his future. He comes back to Japan on hearing of his father's death leaving his PhD incomplete. He owns a small fish shop called 'Uoharu' and helps his mother there.

In the first two-three episodes, the match progresses well because Nanako Matsuhima doesn't know Tsutsumi Shinichi's true background. However, Higashijyugo san is suspicious from the beginning. He likes Nanako Matsushima and doesn't want her to marry Tsutsumi Shinichi. Finally, he discovers his true identity and tells her about it. After that, she breaks up with him. He is heart broken and never sees any other girl.
However, her collegue Wakaba starts helping out at his shop and begins to develop feelongs for her. He also, often visits the doctor who is also a good friend of Nanako Matsuhima and sometimes they are at his house on the same time. Therefore, there is a lot of interaction between them and Nanako Matsushima truly begins to develop feelings for him. He was in love with her in the first place.

She later discovers that he is well educated and tries to persuade him to give up the fish shop and look for a lucrative job. But he believes that the shop is his late father's gift to him and his only posession and insists on working there.

The theme song 'Everything' by Misia is played in almost every scene. The song resonates in your head after you've finished the drama.

Story- 4/5
Characters- 4.2/5
Acting- 4.3/5
Overall- 3.8/5

The focus was on romance but for most of the episodes, Nanako Matsushima is engaged to Higashijyugo san and she even gets into a marriage with him.
The relationship between Nanako Matsushima and Tsutsumi Shinichi doesn't progress very well. It starts well but after the break up it wanders. They fight a little and even help each other but the interaction is minimal. Romantic scenes don't take place after the first two episodes. Therefore,when she runs from the marriage to look for him, it appears fake.
I felt very bad when Wakaba chan's heart was broken because she was the one who was truly helpful and encouraging. Even through from Tsutsumi Shinichi's side the love appears true, from Nanako Matsuhima's side, it develops rather late and appears fake.

I liked the ending though. She chases him to America and marries him. He becomes a professor and they live happily ever after.

Some scenes like the fight about quitting studies halfway and being materialistic was okay but the relation doesn't develop much just explodes in the end. Higashijyugo sand appears as her fiancee for most of the drama and it seems rather foolish to quit the marriage and go for Shinichi. There was no love to fuel such a decision.

The last two episodes about the marriage and going to America are good if you ignore the rest of the drama. The episodes in between the first two and the last two episodes did nothing great. Nanako Matsuhima's character is the same for most of the drama and abruptly changes in the last two episodes.

Some scenes in the episodes in between are good but there are no romantic scenes and therefore no spice or fun in the drama.

All other things except romance are good.

Overall, it is an average daily life romance drama much like Long Vacation but inferior. The story lacks emotion. People interested in knowing more about japanese culture or wanting to watch an average japanese drama might benefit from this one but it can easily be skipped.



Pros

Cast
Idea of the story
Ending
Theme song 'everything'


Cons

Romance
At times, Nanako Matsushima looks blank
Slow development

Drama Review- GTO

GTO was a very popular seinen manga in Japan. It tells the story of Onizuka Eikichi, a biker in a motorcycle gang who wants to become a teacher. He got a degree from a third rate university and ever since has joined the motorcycle gang. But he has only one dream- to become a great teacher.

The drama starts when his co-wroker tells him about a school that is hiring teachers. Onizuka hurriedly rushes to the interview. He fails in the interview and later goes to the school cafeteria where he meets the lunch lady who is the director.
While going back, he spots some students fighting with the interview pannel. They tell him to save them from these wild students and say that they'll grant him the job in return. They tell him that these students are 'trash' which infuriates Onizuka who believes that every child is special. Instead of the students, he hits the interview pannel and tells them about his beiefs.

The director, who is watching all this is impressed by Onizuka and to his surprise, gives him the job.

However, he is the homeroom teacher of the infamous 3-D that is filled with reckless, wild students who have no faith in teachers due to one of their teachers betraying one of their classmates.
Their previous teacher landed up in the hospital ICU and the one before that joined a cult. The director believes that somebody like Onizuka can make these troublemakers see light.

Onizuka meets Fuyutsuki sensei (Nanako Matsushima) with whom he falls in love. In real life, they fell in love during the shooting and married later. They have two daughters and are still married.
However, Fuyutsuki sensei has no interest in teaching. She wanted to become an air stewardess but failed the entrance. She just tolerates the kids for the sake of her pay. She finds Onizuka very easygoing and immature. She finds him disgusting in the beginning because of his lack of seriousness and his graduation degree from a third rate university. In the school, there are teachers who have graduated from Todai and other elite universities.

However, the students are not happy with him and from the very first episode start making trouble to get him out of the school. But, he in turn scares them off with his motorcycle gang.
One girl however, has a very troubled life at home with the relations between her parents breaking down. Onizuka goes to her house and helps her out. Fuyutsuki sensei also witnesses this heart warming event of Onizuka breaking down the wall between the girl's parents' rooms and her impression of him goes up.

The next day, the students create more trouble and her impression of him comes back to square one.

Onizuka's class boycotts him and he tries to get them back by winning the trust of each student. Fuyutsuki sensei is inspired by Onizuka's passion for teaching and starts taking her career seriously.

Their love life progreses quite well with hate turning to love. Fuyutsuki starts to see talents in Onizuka and is inspired by his dedication. There are some hurdles but these are cleared.

Story- 4/5
Characters- 4.5/5
Acting- 4.5/5
Overall- 4.2/5

One problem with the series was lack of seriousness. In Gokusen, the children are seen studying while here, they are never seen studying. That paints a rather hopeless picture of Onizuka's teaching abilities. Children don't come to school to fool around.

There was also too much focus on romance which is hardly required in a teaching, inspirational drama. This drama was much better in the manga form but the drama was good as well. A lot of rubbish has been cut down.

Takahashi Sorimachi's acting was the saving grace of this drama. His goofy expressions and serious acting in serious scenes was pretty well done. I can't believe that he has never received an acting award in his life when most of his dramas were super hit and he acts quite well. In additon to acting, he sings the theme Poison for the drama.

The best thing about this drama was the sentimental scenes. The ending of every episode is sentimental and heart warming.

The movie was quite good as well. I'll review it some other time. The special focuses more on Onizuka's relationship with Fuyutsuki sensei.

Overall, a good teaching/inspirational drama to watch. Gokusen and Dragon Zakura fans might like it although I liked both more than this. However, in manga form, GTO was better than both.
The drama is good but I'll recommend the manga over it. The drama is good for those who don't have the time to read the long GTO manga.
The movie is pretty good and I'll recommend it to anyone. The special was nothing spectacular.

If you're looking for inspiration, GTO is the thing for you. I'll recommend this and Gokusen and Dragon Zakura to anyone wanting to enter the teaching profession.

Pros

Takahashi Sorimachi
Story
Emotional scenes
Script
Complete with special and movie

Cons

Lack of seriousness in some parts where it is expected

Drama review- Majo no jouken

Majo no jouken is a famous Japanese drama about a high school teacher Michi who falls in love with her own student. Because of the conservative nature of society, their love is not accepted by anyone. Throughout the dreama, they have to overcome many obstacles.

The drama begins with showing the life of Michi, who is an ordinary Japanese school teacher. Her father is a very strict man who is a principal. The very first day, she meets Kurosawa Hikaru- a seventeen year old buy who is also her student. She slowly begins to fall in love with him.

Hikaru's mother, however, catches the signs of love early and tries to distance her from Hikaru. Hikaru is the heir to a hospital which was started by his father and his mother wants him to take it over. She is extremely possessive and doesn't want Michi 'stealing' away her son from her.

However, even she isn't able to stop her son from falling in love with Michi and soon their love blooms into something serious. When others begin to hear rumours about Michi's love, the school management forces her to resign. Her father submits a resignation for her but at the school-leaving speech, she decides not to leave school and publicly announces that she loves Hikaru. This sparks a large-scale controversy and Michi is scolded at home by her parents and looked down at by society. Hikaru also faces very bad treatment in school, but despite it all they keep on going.

Throughout the series, they come across many obstacles and run away together but are found. Michi is arrested by teh police because Hikaru's mother has accused her of kidnapping. Michi also discovers that she is pregnant with Hikaru's child. She leaves her parents' house and lives on her own to support the child. Due to overwork, she has a threat of miscarriage and many other events follow this.

Overall, the story started out very well and I had tears in my eyes in every episode. Their romance is very realistic and the obstacles are realistic too. Their love is able to grow and both of them develop as people during the series. The ending however, completely changed my opinion of the story. It is so ambigious that it was impossible to understand. The fatalistic turn of events towards the end completely ruined the whole drama. Why did the ending have to be so sad? I coouldn;t understand. After so many struggles, it was only fair that they have a happy ending.

Don't watch this drama until you are prepared for heart-wrenching tragedy.

Story-4
Plot-3
Acting-4
Script-4.3
Direction-3.6

Pros
Great start
Heart breaking and realistic romance

Cons
Ending ruined it all

Drama Review- Bijo ka yajuu

Bijo ka yajuu popularly known as Kiss or Fight or Beauty or Beast is a work, romance, comedy drama starring beautiful Nanako Matsushima and Japan's most popular bachelor Fukuyama Masaharu. When I read the actors' names and the genre, I was excited. I was eager to see this drama. let me give you the synopsis first.

After graduating from the Tokyo University School of Law, Makoto Tamiya goes on to Harvard University where she earns an MBA. She later works at one of the "big three" networks in the United States as a news reporter. While covering a story on an international symposium in Paris, Makoto is scouted to work for JBC Television in Japan. The news producer at JBC wants to use Makoto to help raise low viewer ratings. He persuades her to work for him for an absurdly high salary, and also gives her the right to hire who she needs.

While Makoto is being brought in to be the savior of the News Department, one man gets transferred from the Variety Department. His name is Hiromi Nagase. Since joining JBC Television, all he has done is variety programs.

So now the News Department has Makoto who thinks high ratings are the meaning of life, and Hiromi who values the success of a program as just a tool for the full enjoyment of life. These two totally different personalities mix it up and somehow reach a mutual understanding, creating a delightful "light comedy".

Fuji TV

So, that's the synopsis.
It starts with Nanako Matsushima's obsession with work, her hard rules and craze of TV ratings. She meets Fukuyama Masaharu, a useless slacker who wastes most of his time eating junk and browsing adult magazines.

In the first episode, she interviews everyone in the Office and asks them who needs to be removed from the department. They all agree that it should be Nagase Hiromi.
Later, he makes some changes in the weather programme and increases the viewership. He talks about his past relation with Nanako Matsushima but she tells him not to talk about it.

Most episodes follow the format of Gokusen. They start with comedy and end in sentimental scenes. The drama dissapointingly focuses on work. Nanako Matsushima shows no feelings for Fukuyama Masaharu until the very last scene in the very last episode and it seems fake or forced at that point. I started seeing this drama expecting the two to fall in love but nothing of that sort happened. Most of the episodes are wasted on reforms in the news division and some even on personal problems. Nanako Matsushima and Fukuyama Masaharu act well but I felt that the script wasn't too good and did not live upto expectations. The drama was aired promising that it would be a romantic comedy. The comedy was very less and there was hardly any romance which, I again emphasize is very dissappointing.

Whenever Fukuyama Masaharu would go looking for her or even try to trigger some romantic scene, Nanako Matsushima avoided it. I always kept my fingers crossed and expected that their love would take off but it didn't happen. They talk about their past relationship in some episodes but categorize them as 'past' and do not take the relationship furthur.
The drama is far too work oriented to have any entertainment value. The sentimental scenes are good and some dialogues are good too but the drama does not head in the right direction (at least that was what I felt).

Towards the end, the misunderstanding is cleared but Nanako Matsushima goes back to America. Fukuyama goes to the airport and the one and only romantic scene in this drama takes place there. I am talking about the last episode.

The drama was still, good overall if I minus the romance part. The sentimental scenes were good and themes were relevant. I did not find too much comedy in the drama but it was enough to keep it going.

The couple had great chemistry but unfortunately, the romance was not developed. A drama starring the ultimate good lookers could have been better with more focus on romance. When Fukuyama rused to the airport in the last scene, I felt like strangling him for not doing it earlier. There was no romance except the last few minutes of the last episode in the drama.

Rating-

4/5

Pros

Cast
Theme
outfits

Cons

No romance
Easily forgotten