Anone is a widow who had to raise the child of her husband's mistress and now that child won't acknowledge her anymore. Aoba-san lost her daughter and her family did not even treat her as a human being. Mochimoto-san, well he was just too pussy to push back against the world so I've got sympathy for him.
It seemed like Nakaseko-san was abused as a child and something happened to his younger brother and he grew up wanting to be free. According to him he wanted to be like the guy in black, able to exist outside the system ie not work but I think it was his way of dealing with pain.
Nikaseko was someone who had it all, lost most of it and still had his wonderful wife and child but just could not bury that hole in his heart. I think Nikaseko was someone who did not know how to be happy.
However, no one was as pitiful as Harika and no one worked as hard to better their life and no one was more selfless. This jdorama may be called Anone but Harika was its heart. Hirose Suzu did an incredible job of playing this character who had all the reasons to hate the world but didn't.
Towards the end, I really feel in love with the characters and this is a phrase that can only be used for Sakamoto Yuji doramas like Quartet. He has the ability to write idiosyncratic characters and imbue them with interesting dialogue almost like a god breathing life to clay models. It is an ability that very few writers do have.
That said, storyline-wise Anone wasn't terribly exciting show. The Anone crush with deadly disease and ojousan girl part was too soap opera for me but it did produce this great Hirose Suzu scene where her face was saying one thing and her words another.
I really enjoyed my 10 episodes with the characters and Hirose Suzu showed that she can really act but my first instinct is that Anone is not a must watch. I would like to award it a must watch but I can't.
I remember reading somewhere that Sakamoto Yuji is taking a break from scriptwriting. Jdramas are not the same without him. He has written some of the best jdoramas of the past 10+ years except for Ryokiteki no Kanojo. Very watchable.
I agree with this review on the whole.
ReplyDeleteHirose Suzu's performance in this drama was simply outstanding. It's true that the story with the sick boy was a little cheesy. But the acting and writing was so good that I completely bought into it. I really wanted them to get together and it was heartbreaking that she couldn't be with him in the end. They were such a cute couple!
I will really miss the characters in this drama. And I will miss dramas by this writer. In my opinion anone is a must watch for people who like dramas with good writing and great acting. Even if it's not the most thrilling story, it is a very emotional drama that I will never forget.