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 was an awesome manga. True it's 21 volumes or some such amount, but it never gets boring and when it ends you get that bitter sweet feeling where you really want it to continue, but are happy that it ended happily. The relationships were well done, and quite honestly, never in my life have I expected to read, and enjoy, a romance story about long jump... but there it is I guess. For me it's one of those that gets better every time you read it (because yes I've read it more than once). Its really sweet, I recommend.
