Jyanai hou no Kanajo is an affair dorama with two big problems. The first has to do with the name and concept of the show. Jyanai hou means someone who is not the main character like the straight man in a manzai group who is not funny or the least idoru looking person in an idoru group.
The show is called jyanai hou's girlfriend because the main character played by Hamada Gaku claims to be a jyanai hou because he is boring associate professor at a university.
This is a depressing statement because anyone married to Konishi Manami with a child and a high paying job in a big house is winning at life and not a jyanai hou. He is in the upper level of society.
Hamada Gaku's character is not getting any sympathy from me because he is a chicken shit bare has any libido.
The second problem with Jyanai hou no Kanojo is that there is no lust, the most necessary ingredient to an affair jdorama. Its like those love story jdoramas for 13 year old girls that is so platonic and has no lust the most a couple does is hug.
Those type of no lust relationships don't work for affairs. The blame also goes to the casting of an idoru in the role of university student seducing the associate professor.
That being said, is Jyanai hou no Kanojo a complete failure? No, I managed to finish it thanks to liking the intro dance act as well as the best friend and mother who are both experts at affairs and provide much of the necessary humour.
Jyanai hou no Kanojo is also a very well shot series and the directors know how to make Yamashita Mizuki look seductive and they have put some effort into making the show look good.
At the end of the day, Jyanai hou no Kanojo is an affair dorama without the fire of an affair. Its more like a Yamashita Mizuki is seducing the audience rather than Hamada Gaku.
Meh dorama unless you are a Yamashita Mizuki diehard. I applaud the effort and they really tried to make it entertaining but you can't make a PG rated affair dorama work because affairs cannot be PG.
This reminds me of Hatachi no Koibito - My 20 year old lover.
ReplyDeleteI still didn't understand the point of that drama. It was like, they are having a semi affair ? in the end they were too scared to do anything with the drama.
Is this similar ? or do they actually get into a relationship ?
@KnowGuy - It does sound similar to Hatachi no Koibito though I don't remember anything about it and reading my reviews, it seems I enjoyed it more than Jyanai hou no Kanojo.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately it is similar because its more a semi affair.