What I watched in the past week and a half:
-Last episode of Dr. Jin (I didn't watch any other episodes only read the recaps ... and it was decent I guess? I didn't expect much from it due to the messed up plot of the rest of the drama.)
-Last episode of A Gentleman's Dignity: IT WAS AWESOME. It actually made me want to go back and watch the entire series... but from reading the recaps I knew that I would be slugging through the middle, so maybe I'll save that for a rainy day.
-Goong: This is obviously a re-watch, but I realized that it's been so long since the last time I watched this drama that I had already forgotten most of it. I still loved it and now I'm pumped for Five Fingers :)
And now to what this blog post is about:
Atashinchi no Danshi
So, I actually don't have a lot of experience with J-dramas and everything that I have watched has been drama adaptations. I'm more of a Taiwanese and Korean drama kinda girl which doesn't really make sense since I've enjoyed the J-dramas that I have watched. I've watched Absolute boyfriend (tried to get through the Taiwanese version and failed miserably) but even thinking about the J-drama still makes me want to cry. WHY WAS THERE EVEN A SPECIAL IN THE FIRST PLACE? JUST TO FUCK WITH MY FEELINGS AND MAKE ME GO INTO A EMO STATE AGAIN?!?! Ouran High School host club which I actually really liked as a fan of the manga except the drama made me ship Haruhi and Kyoya so much. Like seriously BEST. CHEMISTRY. EVARRRRR. Please please please let there be a FTAK live starring these two! Hana Yori Dango, enjoyed it but the Taiwanese drama will always be the best for me just because it was the first drama I ever watched in its entirety in my life. And Nodame Cantible, GYABOOO CHIAKI-SEMPAIIIII!!!! <3 <3
Okay... so maybe I have watched quite a few J-dramas but compared to the amount of T-dramas and K-dramas I've watched, this is like nothing.
So anyways, while in Korea I decided I was going to watch a J-drama (yea I know it's weird. Maybe there was just too much korean-ness happening around me so I had to counteract it with something lol) and I decided that I would watch Atashinchi no Danshi after looking up good J-dramas. And WOW am I happy that I did!~
The basic plot is that a girl named Chisato is homelesse and living in like this park while also using the facilities of a net cafe because she's running from the debt collectors that are trying to get the money from a loan that Chisato's dad was the cosigner for. One day while running from the debt collectors, she's saved by Okura Shinzo who offers to repay her debt as long as she marries him because he only has 3 months left to live. Chisato agrees but after Shinzo's death realizes that she also promised to be the mother of his 6 adopted sons. Hijinks ensues.
Well, this drama was actually SO CUTE. I love all of the sons so much! (Even you poopy face Fuu!)
My favourite brothers are probably Tamaki (Yamamoto Yusuke playing Okura Masaru though he'll always be Tamaki in my mind lol) Takeru (Okada Yoshinori), Satoru (Seto Koji) and of course SHO! (Mukai Osamu)... so basically everyone but Fuu and Akira lol. But I still love those two too! Maybe it's just because I thought Fuu was evil for most of the drama and Akira's a kid so I he doesn't carry the sex appeal part that makes me love characters lol. But seriously all the brothers are SO AWESOME. They're all so different but they work so well together as a family.
[SPOILERS AHEAD!] Just scroll really fast to Mei-Chan if you don't want to be spoiled lol.
One of my biggest problems with J-dramas would be the lack of romance. Maybe I've been spoiled by K and T dramas but I would really love it if the main couple within a drama would actually yunno... GET TOGETHER. Lol.
Your kisses aren't enough for me! Chisato and Sho WHY DIDN'T YOU ACTUALLY GET TOGETHER IN THE END!?!? WHAT IS THIS, "Chisato, I have something to tell you later." CRAP?!?
But I know by now that most J-dramas do not put the focus on romance and instead choose to focus on the connections between all the characters and focus on family and friend relations more. I think this has to do a lot with the fact that because most of the drama's I've watched are made from successful dramas which have gone on for years meaning the mangakas were able to create a huge ensemble cast and give them all their moment to shine somewhere in the manga so the drama also tries to emulate this which then takes screen time away from the main couple. This is kind of devastating for me someone who lives on the romantic scenes because Japan actually does sweet innocent romance SO FREAKING WELL.
But this drama really isn't one to be missed because even if there isn't enough romance for me, there's still plenty of BROMANCE <3 <3
Mei-Chan No Shitsuji
I decided to watch Mei-Chan after enjoying Atashinchi No Danshi so much only to realize after finishing Mei-Chan that Atashinchi no Danshi was that drama that aired right after Mei-Chan in the same timelot lol.
Oh Hai there Mukai Osamu, I totally saw you there what with it seeming like you decided to take a bath in bleach before filming this drama! So like... I actually have no idea why my cutie is albino in this drama and people in the comments on youtube also wondered why, but it was sadly never explained :(
The plot of Mei-Chan is that one day Shinonomei Mei's parents die in an accident, which is when a mysterious man comes and introduces himself ad Mei's butler. He explains to Mei that she is actually the grand daughter of Hongo Kintaro, head of Japan's richest family. For Mei to become to successor of the Hongo family, she needs to attend St. Lucia's academy which is tailored to educate high class ladies, at St. Lucia's every student is given a butler to serve their every command. The story follows Mei as she finds what it truly means to become a high class lady and how important her butler, Shibata Rihito is to her.
The second stupid moment what when I didn't realized till the end of episode 1 why the plot felt so familiar, IT'S BECAUSE I ALREADY READ THE FREAKING MANGA. LOL. I seriously had no idea probably because I read so many shojou mangas that sometimes they all become a blur unless I really like them.
So anyways, once again this drama doesn't really have that much romance and it's more of a story per episode drama much like how Atashinchi no Danshi and Ouran were compared to a drama that had a more linear plot like Absolute Boyfriend. It also allowed for many of the master+butler pairs to have their own episode to shine but all along the way we could see that the relationship between the two leads was developing into something more than a simply professional relationship.
I mean just look at them, AREN'T THEY SO ADORABLE ?!?! This drama ends with a kiss (but I can't find a picture! D;<) but the relationship this still kinda murky, butler and master... or something more?
One thing that I love and hate about this drama is that it actually has a real villain. It's great because who doesn't love a good villain to up the stakes and get some forward motion in the plot? It's bad because... err.... the villain in this drama is absolutely bat shit crazy. And not even that bat shit crazy that's kinda interesting and entertaining to watch, the bat shit crazy that really just makes you want to institutionalize this woman.
Oh Osamu, how did you get stuck with this kind of character? Crazy and creepy... oh well at least you're still pretty :)
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So yea. Those were the two dramas that I've been loving recently and I just wanted to share them ^^ If anyone's curious the dramas that I plan on watching are:
-Episode 10&11 of Golden Time
-Arang and The Magistrate
-Five Fingers
-Faith (LEE MIN HOOOO <3 <3 <3 )
-Rich Man, Poor Woman
-Miss Rose (maybe... not sure about this one yet)
-To The Beautiful You (Or maybe the Japanese version of Hana Kimi. I watched the Taiwan version and hated the plot but finished it for the cast which I love to bits.)
