Kiseki no Hito Eps 1-3

Ladies and gentlemen, I have found my feel good dorama that I like more than I should in Kiseki no Hito. The last jdorama which fit this discription was Coffee-ya no Hitobito, also from NHK BS Premium. Coincidence?

The main character of Kiseki no Hito is yet another loser who's done nothing in life. I was thinking not another freaking Boys on the Run because they usually run the loser character through the stereotype wringer without doing anything interesting.

Then I noticed the dialogue of Ichitaku and his friend whinging about life and how aimless they were to be pretty funny. I have no idea what it is but it is a gift to be able to write characters complaining about the world and make it funny, informative and not stale.

After watching the first three episodes, turns out the writer is non other than Okada Yoshikazu, writer of Boku no Tsuma to Kekkon Shite Kudasai, Watashi to Iu Unmei ni Tsuite, Saigo Kara Nibanme no Koi etc etc.

Ichitaku who does nothing but somehow has a room somewhere in Tokyo meets former yankee Aso Kumiko and their first meeting is gross but funny. Did I mention I love Aso Kumiko who was underutilised in Love & Peace and Haiyu Kameoka Takuji?

Aso Kumiko has a daughter who is both deaf and blind and is being kicked out of her apartment because the daughter is too noisy. Ichitaku wanting to score with Aso Kumiko (who wouldn't) introduces them to his landlady who is unusually kind and Ichitaku begins his journey to finally be useful to someone.

On the face of it, Kiseki no Hito seems like an oversentimental Ashida Mana type show but trust me when I saw its more laid back comedy. The thing that seals it is the writing. I don't know how to describe it when stereotypical characters come alive because their dialogue have just enough nuance and bounce. Nojima Shinji couldn't pull it off with Our House but Okada Yoshikazu is the man!

Very similar in tone to Coffee-ya no Hitobito despite being completely different genres and having different creators. Its as if both shows could exist in the same world. They are not realistic but neither do they have the fakeness of your mainstream shows. I guess they are both stories about humanity dressed in melancholy and joy.

I had more fun watching Kiseki no Hito than I should have. You can grab the raws from Avistaz or just google Kiseki-no-Hito-EP01-720p-x265-ER (third link). Make sure you have ad blockers on your browser. Subtitles can be gotten here. The ending song Hone is not available yet but there is a Ando Yuko version out. I can't stop listening to this song. Very watchable.