summer dorama

There’s been a real lack of content lately, mostly because nothing particularly noteworthy goes on during the summer — I can only entertain you with stories of late night Steak n’ Shake gettogethers, college shopping, and C++ for so long. I am going to school in a week though and may feel inspired.

However, one thing that I would like to review here is my summer dramas. Since I got back from Japan, the most urgent feeling I had (besides, “where can I get my hands on some octopus”) has been whether or not I can keep up with the summer dramas.

Japanese tv is heavily drama based, and is broken into four seasons of approximately 11 weeks each, with two weeks or so of break between each season. Last year when I arrived in August, I showed up in the latter half of the summer season, and by the time I left in May enough time had passed to place me approximately three seasons later — towards the end of the spring season. Most shows run for one season only, so they are a complete, 11 episode package. Only rarely do sequel series pop up, and those are usually when the first series did particularly well AND the series is based on a manga with a storyline that continues.

Summer dramas started in July, and through internet research and discussion with friends, I was able to pick out three that I wanted to follow (There are perhaps a dozen or so dramas every season, all broadcasting at the 9 or 10 oclock hours, any day of the week, which adds up to a maximum of around 14 shows, if they want to exist in that prime time). Now we’re just over halfway through the season. Here’s an intro to each:

1) 花ざかりの君たちへ

Title: Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (I think if I translated the title it would be something like “To you, in full bloom” — plural you of course)

The concept: Remember the Amanda Bynes movie “She’s the Man”? Girl disguises herself as a boy, goes to boarding school, lives with the guys, is in love with her roommate, has some sort of impressive athletic skill, etc etc? Well now put that story in Japan. Horikita Maki stars the Amanda Bynes role, but in this case she has come all the way from America to enroll in an all boys school in Japan, just to get near her favorite high jumper, Sano Izumi, played by none other than Oguri Shun. Motivated by guilt about her involvement in Sano’s injury that stopped him from highjumping (he was injured trying to save her, back in America), she decides it’s up to her to make him highjump again. He’s physically recovered enough for it, but has a mental/emotional block. Then add in all the hilarity of the all boys school, the girl trying to act like a guy, the best friend who, having fallen in love with the girl-gone-boy, struggles with his apparent homosexuality, and the ditzy sister all-girls school nearby… you have one great drama.

Plus, I love the fact that the subtitle of this show is “Ikemen Paradise”. Ikemen is japanese for prettyboy (or more closely, “attractive guy”). Here’s the ad:

2) パパとムスメの七日間
Title: Papa to Musume no Nanokakan (translation: Father and Daughter’s Seven Days)

The concept: Imagine Freaky Friday, set in Japan, and instead of a mother/daughter switch, it’s a father/daughter switch. This gives you so much more comedic potential for a few reasons:

-gender roles come into play, unlike with a mother/daughter switch, and on top of that, Japanese gender roles are quite strict, down to the speech styles of men and women being completely different.
-girl suddenly has to deal with the dull life of being a salaryman
-father has to suddenly deal with being in high school, during testing week, and having a love interest sempai
-very awkward interactions between mother and both the father and the daughter

3) ホタルノヒカリ
Title: Hotaru no Hikari (“Light of the Firefly” except that the main character’s name is “Firefly”)

The concept: bummy girl with decent job lives to come home, drink beer, play with the cat, and sleep in her messy room. While she has her act together for work, outside of the office she doesn’t know how to interact with people, and is especially hopeless with guys. Her boss breaks up with his wife, and comes to reclaim his house (which this girl happens to be living in), cannot stand her slobby behavior, and tries to shape her up, or at least help her a bit.

It’s mostly funny because of the male lead’s harsh lines. He is normally polite and goes out of his way to help her, but you sense the resentment when you’re having that heartwarming section at the end of the episode, where she has finally managed (with his help) to be a little less of a miserable failure, and then he cuts in with a line like, “You’re HOPELESS. Lifelong hopeless! Hopeless til you die! No, hopeless even if you’re dead! Even if you are reborn as someone else, hopeless! You’re COMPLETELY HOPELESS!” Needless to say that’s one notch below standard politeness levels in Japan.

So that’s what I’ve been doing lately.

And buying all sorts of college paraphernalia.

If that was dull, here is a bonus new commercial Oguri Shun is in — it would cheer anyone up!