This dorama bloody kicks ass. Ep 2 has two components. First is Sagara trying to teach this stock trading obsessed doctor how to take pride in his work. Sagara does this by making the stock doctor participate in a diagnosis discussion although Sagara already knew the disease and getting the doctor to participate in the operation. Its bloody brilliant, someone trying to make a point without resorting to preaching/shouting/crying like in most doramas.
Sagara makes his point by manipulating the subject to do what Sagara wants them to do and its up to them whether they want to take something out of it. Brilliant. The best part is the stock trader doctor doesn't magically turn over a new leaf. People don't change so easily but for one episode he was able to have pride in his work and forget about stock watching.
The second component of ep 3 is Sagara trying to convince Minagawa-sensei not to leave. He reveals his plan to her in the hope that she would decide to be his comrade in arms and after she rejects it, he has to resort to some underhanded tactics. A protagonist making hard decisions, questioning himself and ultimately deciding that the ends justifies the means. Stuff like this just brings a smile to my face.
Ep 3 surprisingly deals with Sagara-sensei's past. Usually in doramas, they leave the character confronting their past near the end but there's a very good reason why it occurs so early in this show. Suguru-chan finds out about Sagara and delights in tormenting him because he realises that Sagara cannot perform the operation. Sagara knows that Suguru only consented to be head of the team to spite Sagara and he devices a way to ensure that Suguru goes through with it.
One thought that popped into my head is that Sagara is like an adult trying to deal with a bunch of spoiled kids by manipulating them. Its like a kindergarten teacher trying to teach kids about life lessons by getting them to do stuff and not merely preaching. Perhaps that's why the villains overact and act like kids.
And there is a nice reveal/twist about why Sagara didn't do the operation himself and instead wanted Suguru. The revelation is done matter of factly but it is just bloody brilliant. The fact that Sagara's past has been turned into a mere plot device shows that the writer has bigger fish to fry which is slowly turn the hospital and the staff around. The fact that stock trader doctor has not turned good means that this is not a formulaic one character gets an epiphany per episode dorama.
Guess what else the writer Fukuda Yasushi wrote? Suspect X., Midnight Rain and Wonderful Life. Not impressed with Hero, Galileo and 20th Century Boys Movies but Doctors clearly show he is very good. He is able to take a genre that has been done so many times and put an new and intelligent spin on it. There seems to be a drop off of nearly 300 sub downloads from episode 1 to 2. Either people are unable to recognise how smart the writing is or they realised that there are no johnnys in this show.
6 comments:
Im sure that Sagara aced Pediatrics in his med school days. haha..
shouting to students is probably the WORST a teacher can do. i've experienced that in med school and it was in front of my groupmates about the how i missed that 1% in my report... which is the reason why i gave up my medical school year. Even today, it still haunts me. haha..
That's why i like this show. It's exactly what a doctor should be. if Sagara was my sensei, i couldve been wearing that white coat already.
The God Complex has to stop!
Both of you said it best. The show hits the right notes with an intelligent and perceptive main character. That makes it cool. All these ingredients are sorely lacking most of the time. I like they bucked away from the trend of focusing on a character each episode experiencing epiphany. That's always grated on me. Other genres should take a cue from Doctors too.
I think Yahoo JP reviews offer a more accurate view of the drama landscape than ratings.
On a side note, I'm flabbergasted that Kaseifu no Mita hit 40% in its last ep. It's such a wreck of a show with bad acting. What message does it send to the networks? And now Fuji probably hopes Nanako Matsushima's popularity from the drama can rub off on its detective drama Lucky Seven.
I always lump Fukuda as one of the 'drone' scriptwriter, someone whom the network could easily dictates. I mean, this guy wrote CHANGE, which is nothing more than a vehicle of fantasy in having Kimutaku as your Prime Minister. Which surprise me since I really enjoy DOCTORS so far.
Then I realised, no matter how bad the script tends to be, he's the one you turn to when you need a proper dorama hero. Sagara is a fantastic hero-character- he's not afraid to be manipulative. A three-dimensional character here. I also like Minagawa-sensei. She can read Sagara like a book (I love that slap scene, LOL).
So I guess, it's probably the case where tvasahi gave Fukuda a free reign in his writing. If he can comes out with this, then, please give him more freedom.
I would back him up that he wrote good stuff in CHANGE and Galileo. It's just the cast that either make the storyline believable or otherwise.
Both doramas got strong base and storyline, the cast however not convincing enough to deliver the story. After all, casting not decided by writer but by network/producer.
I'm deeply intrigued with this dorama. gonna download it.
I've always read your blog if i want to search for some great jdrama without any "idol" on it but never bother to leave any comments. Anyway, thanks!
Based on your review (your recommendation has never failed me) and Fukuda Yasushi is a great writer (well, i love Galileo&Hero^^) i will definitely watch Doctor anytime soon =)
Because of your positive review, I checked Doctors out and found it really wonderful.
Thank you for reviewing Doctors.
Hope to see you find potential gems in the next Dorama season.
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