Why is no one hating on Oguri Shun dying over pears? It is pretty hard to not notice a train is incoming in Japan. There are:
1. Electronic signs telling you when the next train is coming.
2. Voice saying train approaching soon.
3. People lining up.
One could possibly have excused 1 and 2 if Oguri Shun were wearing earphones but yeah, its a bit of a sell. I'm happy to accept the premise because it lead to the awesome scene in ep 1 where Koharu finally found out why her husband had pears with him but showing it a bit too many times makes my mind start wondering about how he died. Unless of course there is something to be revealed about his death later.
I love the flashbacks to ep 1. It was such an awesome episode that I started wandering about how they could keep the momentum going. My biggest fear is that it would become Beautiful Rain aka Crying Porn.
While episode 2 is about the awwwww promise between Koharu and Nozomi, the execution is pretty good. I like that Nozomi is able to sell the feeling of guilt without saying stuff and crying. Hated/loved the way Koharu asked Nozomi whether she was lonely. I was screaming in my head, "Don't fucking do this guilt thing on your kids! Let them enjoy themselves ffs".
However character flaws are what makes characters interesting and real. Plus it ties in with what the welfare people told Koharu. Just happy that Nozomi's performance is not from the Ashida 'Look at me I'm so cute' Man school of acting. Love the above scene where the kids are stuck between wanting to have fun and guilt.
Episode 2 advances all the other plots a little bit. Big surprise welfare dude has problems at home. It ends nicely with Nikaido Fumi introducing herself which makes me more excited for ep 3. You hear that Koreeda? End your episodes with something exciting! Que Koreeda fans screaming blasphemy.
I'm hooked on this show. You didn't mention the big shocker -- but played in an understated way. Ogura Shun's character may not have died in the way Koharu assumed -- check out the newspaper clipping. Makes you wonder if her whole memory of his death has been false.
ReplyDeleteRootabega here:
ReplyDeleteI agree with with you completely about Oguri Shun's character's ridiculous dispatch from the world of the living.
We all know about the well-worn scriptwriter's device from classical Hollywood known as the "meet cute", but did Sakamoto have to try and top himself by writing a "death cute"?
Pears and a kiddies' song, pears and a kiddies' song...over and over again.
Despite my gripes, the second half of episode one had some powerful shit going on. Overall, I am not disappointed. I'm looking forward to ep 2.
Yes, the dying over pears is so stupid. Threw me out of ep 1 a little as I was expecting something like a hiking accident but instead- pears?! I hope that there is something more behind that. All the crying also made me worried, though I still mostly loved episode 1 and will definitly be checking out this second episode.
ReplyDeleteGreat episode, and you hit it on the head...
ReplyDeleteBut I'm with Snoop on this one - in episode 2 they def hint at there being more around Shin's death - tying in with Fumi's character...
Hahah... "Crying porn" and your aversion to poor little Mana-chan.^^
Yeah, its probably going to be Shin dies saving her. Wait, how old is she suppose to be anyway?
ReplyDeleteAs Rootabega says, I'll accept any premise as long as it leads to powerful shit.
sulovesdrama, how else would one describe Beautiful Rain?
Check out the Heiwa fansub's translation of the newspaper clipping -- it turns your idea of Shun 180 degrees! Makes you wonder if Fumi is the vic -- hence her drawings of presumably Shun's hands.
ReplyDelete(Btw the Heiwa fansub has a error -- the newspaper's subheading is not "Struck by Company Employee Train and Killed" but rather "Company Employee Struck by Train and Killed." But check out the main heading above ;)