THE GOOD
+ Lots of funny and witty Nojima Shinji dialogue. How I miss his writing. However, he hasn't done anything good since Love Shuffle, hasn't he?
+ Love the side characters.
THE BAD
- I never liked Ashida Mana except for in Mother. Her characters are always way too smart and it fits her character in this show but she's like an adult in a kid's body. When she does her crying scenes its just gratuitous and I get flashbacks to Beautiful Rain. I don't think I can ever enjoy her acting until she grows up.
- Can't really blame Nojima Shinji but Charlotte's character uses English in the weirdest of places and she knows some really difficult words and sentences. Same problem with Massan, shouldn't Charlotte and Koji be speaking a lot more English?
- I wish it wasn't doing the usual turn one person into Charlotte's ally per episode formula.
- Zero chemistry between Charlotte and Koji.
THE UGLY
- Taking a taxi from Narita? No idea where they live but the taxi went pass Tokyo Tower. The taxi bill would be crazy.
SUMMARY
I just can't stand Ashida Mana. She's been monopolising the little girl roles for too long. Too bad the girl from Shiroi Haru retired. Surely there must be other talented young actresses out in Japan? Its hard to enjoy a show when you like the dialogue but don't like the main actor in the show. If you like her, you'll probably enjoy this. If not, it won't make you like her and you're better off watching Hitotsu Yane no Shita. Meh.
4 comments:
Compared to Love Shuffle, or even GOLD, I found this one to be a blah for a Nojima Shinji drama. GOLD had some really good one liners, although it fell flat after a while.
I might watch the third episode, but some of it just seems so cliche to me. It very well could be Ashida Mana, but I don't know because I've never seen her in a drama before.
Our House is definitely a step back for Nojima Shinji, but this kind of downfall is not comparable to Ozaki Masaya with Otona Joshi IMO :). I don't know that the little girl from Shiroi Haru retired. The other day I was hoping she could make a comeback but that's not gonna happen in Jdramaland. The problem with Ashida Mana is that she's been typecast as the precocious, mature little girl for such a long time. Every new project of Mana is a new level to show how wise beyond her age she is and it's getting unwatchable.
It's almost the same for me. I really liked Mother and I think Ashida Mana did a great job in it. But I could not stand watching her afterwards. I just don't want to see her playing every little girl. It's not like she really fits every role anyway.
Just saw the entire series- Charlotte Kate Fox did a great job, BUT do (North) Americans, and English speaking Europeans USE that much English when speaking to Japanese? I think not. Had CKF and Yamamoto been given better screen time, the sexual/romantic chemistry would have been better- they are SO SEXY- remember Shinsengumi!, Maasan, and Tantei Katherine. 22 episodes versus 9! Ashida-chan had her place, but not this kind of adult game playing! I hope CKF and Yamamoto do another series or movie together as leads.
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