J-drama....

J-drama Review

Coincidentally I watched finished 2 J-drama with Fujiki Naohito in it.

One was Oni no sumika or Don't be a Cry Baby.
It's a tailored for Kyoko Fukada Cinderella drama so how it will be a like is actually very easy to figure out what it will be like. The story starts with Ayumi (Kyoko Fukada) having to deal with separation with her younger brother after their parents perished in an accident. Ayumi is the standard drama high school girl from the city, used to be pampered by her parents and willful in nature. Alas Ayumi had to face hardship as she was adopted by her aunt's family and forced to work in the Water Inn run by their family. The fun fact about Fukada's shows are that she often the Strong-willed girl with a sense for justice. Yet no matter what she did, somehow happiness tend to slip out of her hand just minutes before the show ended/started. This is that ONE show I believed that started it all. In fact the character she played here is very similar in thinking to Fighting Gal however she was more abused than abusive here). So what's the catch about this show? Dramatic twist. Every episode Ayumi had to face a new problem/demon as she continues to struggle for a decent acceptance in the Water Inn or rather in the 'House of Devil' (The other Title it is commonly known to be). Ghosts of the Water Inn's past binds Ayumi to a descending fate. Will she escape from her impending doom?

Major support comes in form of the Devils....mainly from her adopted family,the Kurokawas....Mr kurokawa,owner of Aomori, husband of Ayumi's Aunt,Shoko. He is often verbally abusive to Ayumi and seemingly in rage every time he saw Ayumi. He slaps his wife, yell at her and threw Ayumi's brother out into the cold. Simply the typical Big Man of the Family. One reason why I continued watching after the 1st episode. Next in turn is Yuriko, the daughter. Typical villain girl who comes in between Ayumi and Yuzuru (played by Naohito) the son of a politician. Then there's a pervert of a son who wanted to get down and dirty with Ayumi or was it just perverted expression of love? The staffs of inn are no kinder to her except for Lee (played by HK idol Kelly Chen Huiling), an illegal worker from China. Yuzuru's father, a lecherous and twisted politician make up part of her misery too.

Wonderful soap but not really engaging. Most people would have given up at episode 6 or 7.Acting wasn't really fantastic althought the older folks managed to carry their role out quite well. Yuzuru is the worse character scripted, there for the sake of having a token 'Prince' character.

Fast forward to 2003,looking not really the same from Oni no sumika which was made in 1999, Fujiki Naohito, more haggard and weathered and seasoned here, plays a teacher in Kou Kou Kyoushi 2003.Considered more of a spin-off than a sequel, this is still about illicit love between teacher and student. Technically it is not, as Kuga (Fujiki Naohito) met Hina (Aya Ueto) even before he became a teacher and even slept with her (as in sleeping together). Hina is the average girl at the background (or so she proclaims) and she hang out with one of the 'Bad Hats' of the school, Beniko, a girl isolated by the rest simply because of her eccentric behaviour. Kuga however was prominent in the school, a young man with good looks in a female high school. However deep down, Kuga was a lonely figure that was driven to suffer by a tumor that was on his head. An unintentional misunderstanding by Hina gave Kuga an opportunity to exploit Hina as his mirror. A mirror which he sees to lessen his pain.It sounds all so perverted but some how once you watched it, it's more of a beautiful, tragic love story.

The drama is divided into two intertwined plots. One about Kuga and Hina. The other is about Fujimura (Kyomoto Masaki) and Beniko. Fujimura's story seems to be a continuation from the Kou Kou Kyoushi, he was a twisted teacher that raped his students before.Guilt caught up on him and he saw a chance to redeem himself when Beniko is caught up in a game which Yuji, a male host, is forcing young girls to voluntarily selling their body out of 'LOVE'.

It's a nice show and even when the nice soundtrack which was used in the original Kou Kou Kyoushi , is used in the updated version, it's still hauntingly engaging even when you know what will happen in the END. However there's a Special for '2003 and maybe I had not seen it all yet. Some of the ideas could be a bit sick but over the presentation itself was good.

I give 2 out 5 stars for Oni no sumika and 3.5 stars for Kou Kou Kyoushi 2003.