This is a Japanese drama about a young woman who really loves food. Her life isn't the best. She works at a cafe, really just putting the hours in, but really doesn't care about the work. What she does care about however, is when lunchtime comes around. She will do whatever it takes to take her lunch on time, and when that time does, she goes on a hunt for the best lunch in town. She even keeps a book full of notes on the places she's tried. It's just another day for Natsumi when, on her very precious lunch break, a strange man pulls her into an alley and begs her to come home with him, pretending to be his wife. He says that his father is dying and he wants to see him one last time, but he'll be so disappointed if he doesn't bring home a wife, she would only have to pretend for the day, etc. Natsumi is having none of it... until the guy says that he will give her the best omurice (rice omelet) that she's ever tasted, so she goes.
As it turns out, this guy's family runs a restaurant, and he's just back to con them out of some cash. Because Natsumi took pity on this guy, she lost her job at the cafe, and without that has no way to pay for her apartment. In addition, she has a very strong love for food, and fell in love with the restaurant's flavour. So she goes back to the restaurant, claiming that as their brother's fiancée, they have to help her. She will work at the restaurant until that guy comes back. At first, the brothers are understandably having none of it. But they slowly warm up to her, especially Jun, who develops a crush on her. She tries her best to do her job well, and she eats with such gusto that they can't help but enjoy her presence. As she lives with them, she learns more about the family and their struggles to continue the business and preserve their unique flavour. At the same time, Natsumi runs in with some people she used to know, people in a bad crowd, and she has to juggle the two worlds. Will her 'fiancee' ever come back to fix the mess he made? If he does, will he have to fight off his younger brother for Natsumi's supposed affection? Will Natsumi be able to hold on to this world she find increasingly dear to her? Watch to find out!
I liked this drama. The characters are all fun and energetic and genuine. As with most of these shows, they really try to capture that 'artist' essence and the importance to try hard and give it your all, which can be heartwarming. The biggest thing though, is that this show makes me hungry. I wouldn't be lost walking into a Japanese restaurant, but I've never been to Japan and have not tried 'authentic' Japanese food. I've never had an omurice, but watching this show... I want one.
This drama was about a dysfunctional family that hires an emotionless housekeeper. Apparently the ratings were very high for this show... but I've personally seen better.
The story opens with four children and their father dealing with the death of the mother of the family. It's been a couple of weeks and the father decides to hire a maid to do the housekeeping. What with the mother gone the work around the house wasn't getting done as it used to. When the housekeeper arrives, the family is kind of taken aback by her appearance and presence. Unlike other housekeepers, she has a heavy coat and a baseball cap and she is very curt with the family, speaking without any trace of emotion. Despite this though, she was excellent at what she did, so the family decides to keep her. As the story progresses, the family learns that there is something kind of off about this housekeeper, Mita-san. One of the things is that she will do anything that is commanded of her, anything, and this of course is one of the central plot points of the story. As the plot progresses we learn more about each of the children, and their father, and of course, Mita-san plays a role in fleshing out each of these discoveries. Usually being directed to do something immoral or illegal. We also learn more about the mother's death, was it an accident? and of course about Mita-san and why she is the way she is.
All of the main characters in this story annoyed me. First off, the father and the youngest daughter look kind of weird. The father looks like a snake, literally, and it's sort of unsettling to look at him. Sometimes I find myself looking at him just to find what I don't like about his face. In addition to that his character on the show is a pathetic, spineless loser. Harsh but true. The youngest daughter doesn't look odd at first glance, but there's something weird about her teeth. They're too perfect for a kid her age. Also, she whines constantly. The oldest daughter is sort of weak-willed. There's a funny part of the show where she orders Mita to kill her, and then runs away in fear as Mita pursues her and tells her to stop. Then she orders Mita to kill her again. Its filmed like a horror scene... but it's just ridiculous. The Oldest son has huge anger issues. I can easily see his character in an abusive relationship. Never before in one drama have I been so dissatisfied with the cast.
This drama is watchable, but I was tempted to drop it half way through.
This is a high school drama about a girl named Mei whose parent's die. After their death she discovers that her estranged grandfather is very wealthy and she will inherit his empire, but first must attend a fancy all-girl reform school to become a lady. This school isn't just any school though. There are no desks, but rather cushy arm chairs and side tables and the campus is a third the size of Tokyo, but the weirdest thing of all about this school is that all of the girls must have butlers.
Mei is sort of resistant at the thought of becoming like these weird people, but eventually finds a reason to stay despite her reservations. Of course there are several people who are against her being there and make life hard for her. One girl in particular, the girl who has earned the highest rank on the lady- scale in the school, turns out to be her rival (in more ways than one), and even after she wins over some of her classmates, it is this adversary who is the real trial for Mei. The girl- butler dynamic is important to the plot. We learn as we watch that being a butler isn't just about waiting on someone hand and foot, but that there is a special bond between master and servant, and that the servants choose to serve.
I thought overall that the drama was interesting in theory, and the story line was well done, but the heroine was kind of pathetic. She was always whining or moping about. When she had a problem she would just stand there dumb-struck until someone saved her or until it was almost irrelevant for her to step forward. I also didn't like the actress who played her. She has one of those faces that seem to always be frowning, or smelling something disgusting, and yet her character was supposed to draw people to her and see how amazing she is. For the most part the characters weren't extremely attractive, but in addition to her unattractiveness, she couldn't act. If they had chosen a different actress to play the heroine this drama would have been much better. As it is though, it's still worth the watch.
The whole thing is actually up on YouTube for the time being, so knock yourself out.
This drama is about a girl of questionable femininity according to Japanese culture who is forced to live with her manager during the summer of her first love (that love of course not being the manager).
The story opens up in the office building of a successful interior design company. We see the employees hard at work, all fashionably and professionally dressed of course. After work a group of female co-workers go out on a group blind date. To encourage some of the younger women who aren't currently in a relationship, the more experienced women say that at least these women are out trying to find a man, unlike an undesirable form of womanhood which they call 'himono- onna' or a 'dried up fish- woman'. A woman who has lost her womanhood. And here we are shown the main character Hotaru. A dried up woman is someone who doesn't go out on the weekends or a night, but prefer staying home wearing sweat pants, drinking beer, and tie their hair in a knot on the top of their head.
By day, Hotaru dresses like a professional and 'normal' woman while she's at the office, but when she gets home to a very messy apartment, she turns into a 'himono onna'. Her manager is going through a separation with his wife and was kicked out of his home, so he decided to go back to his parent's old house to live. As it turns out, his father gave Hotaru permission to live there, so the two decide to try living together.. even though the manager is appalled at Hotaru's himono-ness.
Meanwhile at work, a new and attractive designer returns to the company from working abroad and Hotaru is struck by his handsomeness, but of course doesn't do anything to try to get close to him. One day she went to oversee a project and fell asleep in a chair. The new guy, Teshima, comes in and seems to be struck by her and gives her a kiss, which wakes her up. She's startled and makes a quick escape, but from that point on develops a severe infatuation for Teshima. Another woman at work also has her eye on Teshima, and she is much more lady-like than Hotaru is. Hotaru is clueless about love, but with the help of her manager and a few comments from her other coworkers, she does her best to secure her love and become a woman!
I really enjoyed this drama. It was funny and dramatic and I really enjoyed the main character. However, going into this I was of course somewhat conflicted as the subject matter was suggesting that a woman is only a woman if she is attractive and out trying to get a man. I think it's no secret that the west sees femininity somewhat differently than the east does... and yet it's not so different as you might think. In the west it's currently popular for girls to wear yoga pants like normal pants, but yoga pants are in fact just another type of sweat pant. The top knot/ samurai knot/ get my hair out of my face knot is also really popular and if girls don't wear it out, you know that most wear it at home, and it's considered cute. But at the same time, these girls are still trying to be attractive, for what purpose? To attract men. The western equivalent of the 'dried up woman' might be a tomboy or a woman who doesn't care about men and put's no effort in her appearance, maybe wearing no name, unattractive clothing. In the west, this type of girl is seen as the opposite of the ideal type of girl... the one who wants a man. The difference between the two might be that in the west the 'dried up woman' is still considered a woman, albeit an unattractive one, while in the drama Hotaru is told that she is no longer a woman. In the end, Hotaru doesn't end up changing her lifestyle and people just accept her as she is.
One of the things I enjoy about watching Jdramas is that there isn't always the same pattern when it comes to love stories, so you don't actually know who the heroine will end up with until later episodes... unlike what happens with western movies. In your typical chick flick you know within 10 minutes of watching the movie what will happen in the end, because they all use the same pattern, but in dramas you never really know. Sometimes they don't end up with anybody at all.
* Spoiler* What I really enjoyed about this series is that we get to see a full relationship, and then get to see that relationship fall apart. The show sets up those characters as the main romantic couple we should be rooting for in the series, but then makes their dates feel awkward, and breaks them up. I love finding stories about heartbreak because it's not a popular topic. We love the happy ending stories so much that very rarely in the west do explore the idea that sometimes what we think is love isn't love, and that's painful. I also like finding stories where the 'unnoticed best friend who really loves her' character gets the girl. I thought this drama did a great job with both of these ideas and tied them in together well. * Spoiler*
This story was well done and gives the audience something to think about in terms of what it means to be strong and what it means to grow. Worth it. And the girl is cute.
This is a Japanese television drama about a young girl who has an incurable degenerative disease, and the boy who falls in love with her. It's based on a true story, the illness part. The actual girl Aya published a book for other with her disease, to give them hope.
The main character is a 15-year-old high school girl named Aya Ikeuchi. She's the ideal girl in many respects, she is very kind, hard-working, and optimistic. She's on the basketball team, has many friends at school, and has also caught the eye of one of her upper-classmen, so potential romance there. Just your typical Japanese high school girl.
Then one day as she is leaving for school, she takes a pretty bad spill and splits her chin on the concrete. The doctor takes her mother aside and tells her that the fall was not ordinary, and that Aya had a rare disease that would slowly make it harder and harder for her body to function on its own. Stealing away the power she had over her own body. The mother tries to keep this from her as long as is possible, but starts to notice that Aya is having difficulties with everyday activities, like misjudging the space between objects, or being unable to use chopsticks.
At the beginning of the first term of high school we are also introduced to a young man, Haruto Asō , who is in the same class as Aya. He wasn't even going to take the entrance exam to the school, but fate would have it that the day he met Aya, he was sort of forced into taking them. Haruto isn't exactly a delinquent, but at the beginning of the story he seems to have a sort of disregard for everything happening in his life. One day he happens to see a web page Aya was on and discovers her illness. He starts to pay more attention to her and slowly begins to fall in love.
The title of this drama sounds really cheesy, and I almost didn't watch it the first time I heard of it, but the show is oddly true to its name, and not cheesy at all! One of the things that gets me every time I watch one of these is how good the Japanese are at these emotional roller coasters. It doesn't matter if it's romance or action or tragedy, you'll be enthralled, maybe even to a heart-wrenching degree. This one in specific, the tragedy/ romance genre. You don't get too many of these in modern Western film, the only two that come to my head immediately are Butterfield 8 and A Walk To Remember. It's not as scarce in Japanese television, which is alright I guess because they do it justice. I cried the first time I watch this, maybe for 3/5th's of the series, and that's a big deal for me. There are is one, maybe two movies that make me cry, I take pride in the fact that I don't cry easily when it comes to film, but this one had me balling. Sometimes when watching tv shows or movies from other cultures, you'll have to be understanding with some of the content. The culture's different and you might not understand all of the references, but the emotions are universal. You'll have to watch this online if you want to see it, and you'll have to put up with fan subs, fan made subtitles, but it'll be worth it.
Here is a trailer made by a fan of the show with some scenes
