Kumo no Kaidan starts out with a very interesting premise. Saburo (Suzuki sensei) who works in a one doctor clinic on a small island in admin, is not a qualified doctor but is so talented that Dr. Muraki gets him to do operations much to the chagrin of everyone else except of course the hot older nurse. Normally I dislike those living a lie doramas because its just heaping one lie after another until the second last episode where its a confession in front of everyone but Kumo no Kaidan starts out different.
The main difference is that the people on the island know that Saburo is not a real doctor and acknowledge his skills. As Dr. Muraki tells him, on this island, Saburo is a real doctor. Saburo is living a lie, but its for the good of the people and everyone knows to keep this from outsiders. One day, a young girl who happens to be the daughter of the director of a big hospital in Tokyo comes to the island and Sabura saves her life in a very bloody operation. She develops the hots for him and this dorama becomes your typical hospital soap opera.
Suzuki sensei's acting is not up to snuff. He looks like he is walking around in a daze after smoking some hash except when he is at the operating table. The writing breaks the writing code of show and not tell by having way too many voice overs by the older nurse that Saburo gets involved with. How many times do we have to be told something is going to happen or what Saburo may be thinking instead of showing us the moment?
Kumo no Kaidan is Breaking Bad written and directed by soap opera people. For those who have not seen it, it is the story of a good man's descent into being a drug lord. Kumo no Kaidan wants to be about this pretend doctor who is actually very good slowly lose his soul but we do not even see his soul to begin with. The writing and acting for Saburo is not good enough to support this dorama.
I don't see Kumo no Kaidan turning a corner. The dialogue is stilted and cheesy and acting non-existent. Is Hasegawa Hiroki a one note actor (Suzuki sensei) or is he a prisoner of poor writing (Kaseifu no Mita)? Could have been a great character drama. I wasn't expecting Breaking Bad level badness but Kumo no Kaiden stays within the confines of jdorama cliches instead of letting the characters act the story. So disappointing after a good first episode.
I highly recommend jadefrost's write up of this seasons' doramas. Very well written. I'm definitely going to watch Lady Joker. Too bad there are no Japanese subs for WOWOW doramas.
Lastly, for preserving precious doramas on HD, I recommend I recommend HD utilities like like CrystalDiskInfo. Apparently it can tell you when your HD is close to dying so you can back things up beforehand.
3 comments:
Rootabega here. I was singing Kumo no Kaidan's praises after watching the first ep, but it seems to have taken a nose dive into the ridiculous. Now that the action has largely moved off the island, the visual appeal is about zero. Loved your comment about the lead looking like he's stoned on hash. This must be how he interpreted the director's instructions to look "hot" and "dreamy" all the time (operations excepted). Basically, this show sux on all fronts, but I'm going keep watching thanks to the dubious appeal of the lead bad boy/pretty boy/waif and the amazing potential for cringes/laughs. Does this dorama season suck, in general, or what?
All that episode 1 potential came crashing down quickly. The book can't be this bad, can it?
Rootabega here.
The bottom's fallen out as of ep 5. I can't even keep watching this as a joke. It's THAT BAD.
If there was a book, it must have been published on a vanity press.
Post a Comment