Sunday, March 25, 2007

Karei-naru Ichizoku ep 9+10


warning: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Ep 9 is all about the court battle between Teppei and Daisuke. Unfortunately, there's no twist and turns in this court battle. Good thing the writer/director kept things simple and milked every moment for what its worth. I mentioned before that Teppei is the show's weak link cause he is too 'good' or idealistic. For me, his character lost my empathy when he went on a rambled on a tangent when asked a question by the opposing counsel. For me, it shows that either he is lacking in understanding or he believes that the law should not stand in the way of him 'saving' Japan's future.


The second part which showed Teppei to be a downright loser is his confrontation with his father after he flew the white flag. Instead of being a man and admiting defeat, he blames Daisuke for not treating him like a son. Basically he was appealing to Daisuke's paternal instinct for help. And I loved it when Daisuke basically call him to fuck himself. I mean he issued a challenge in front of the family and lost. Teppei should at least keep his dignity.

Suzuki Kyoko has a bloody nice figure. :) Hiroyuki Sanada is one lucky dude, if the rumours are true. They had such good chemistry in Unmarried Family, one show that would have been in my top 10 if not for the baka ending.

Lastly Teppei is a loser cause he committed suicide. Watching him wallow in self pity is a waste of time for a final episode. We show main characters in depression to see them fight back. Teppei just abandons his wife and child. Yeah, maybe you could say that he took the honourable way out/bushido code etc etc.


But, FFS its not like he lost a company that he himself built from the ground up. He was given the damn company cause he was a Manpyo. He inherited it from the blood, sweat and tears from his grandfather.

Just love Muroi Shinji's facial expressions. He was the best thing about Odoru Daisasousen. Would love to see him play a bad guy.

The true 'hero' of the show is Manpyo Daisuke. The difference between them was thet Teppei did what he thought was right while Daisuke did what he had to. And talk about the end revelation. This is like some tragic comedy without the comedy. For want of a second blood test, everything would have turned out differently. I believe that the show would have fared much better if it were less on Teppei and more evenly spread.

Aibu Saki is so innocent and hot. They should have put more of her characters onichan complex in, hehe.

And the revelation by the finance minister at the end. Someone do a dorama special! I wanna see how Daisuke will protect Toyo Ginko. Adventures of idealistic, rich ppl who don't even know how to answer questions in court don't interest me. On the whole, its another average series that could have been great. I'd still say its the best show this season based on what I've seen.

And check out the synopsis of the 1974 movie here. And it confirms my suspicion that Teppei potrayed too 'perfect' According to the reviewer, the movie potrays Teppei as being weak in business and was overwhelmed whereas the series tries to make him a victim of circumstance. And it seems like the movie does the dysfunctional family bit better. The series should have been more about the family rather then focus on Teppei as the main story.

3 comments:

Edmund Yeo said...

Yup, I saw the whole thing last night. I was shocked by the ending, and I guess they finally showed Teppei's flaws in the finale, that he's actually rather weak-willed and emotionally imbalanced.

Nothing can be a greater tragedy than to have Daisuke realize that Teppei IS actually his own son and that 30+ years of misunderstanding were wasted. Maybe his ruthlessness has damned him (kinda like Andy Lau's char in Infernal Affairs), or maybe he will try to seek redemption. Pretty open-ended.

Enjoyed it more than the formulaic Engine, really.

eliza bennet said...

To me Daisuke wasted his and his sons' lives to serve a misguided revenge. He also was the bad businessman of the story since he was conned by the older banker and his son in law - the thing is that he would have invested in Teppei's venture if not for the fact that he carried a grudge.

Teppei was not perfect. He just was a good person who cared more about people and engineering than business. It was obvious that he is not a good businessman and he never claimed to be.

But I have to agree that he took the coward's way out. It was not honourable to commit suicide like that and leave his son without a father.

Akiramike said...

No one in the show is perfect, that`s why is so good. My beef is why Teppei`s prominence just because he is being played by Kimutaku.