Sunday, August 07, 2022

Ame ni Kieta Himawari Episodes 1+2

It is time for dark and depressing WOWOW jdorama after the fun and feelgood of Isekai Izakaya Nobu. I am most excited by Muro Tsuyoshi in the lead role as the police investigator. Usually when comedians play serious roles, it leads to good things. 

Ame ni Kieta Himawari is about a primary school girl Aoi who disappears on her way home from school. Her father played by Sato Ryuta has been separated from the mother for two years and the older sister is getting bullied at school.

The police are having problems locating Aoi's whereabouts and as Nara (Muro Tsuyoshi) tries to find more clues about Aoi's disappearance, we also learn more about why Nara became a police officer for his sister.

One thing that struck me about Ame ni Kieta Himawari is that the directing is not to your usual WOWOW standards. Usually the framing and camera movements in WOWOW shows more cinematic instead of giving off a shot in studio feel. Of course its all WOWOW doramas have the same director but they always have a certain movie feel and quality. Ame ni Kieta Himawari looks like someone who was trained to shoot doramas like in other stations. 

Its hard to explain but the directing just looks cheap. I find myself trying to analyse the framing and camera movement asking myself what is the difference between what I am watching and the usual WOWOW directing I am accustomed to. I am not expecting Samayoi Yaiba quality directing but its not up to the usual WOWOW quality.

Story I can't really comment only that there are a couple of angry scenes which felt meh. Not sure whether it was the directing or writing. The first two episodes are nothing special. I will keep watching but my feeling is it will be a subpar WOWOW show.

I hope I get proven wrong and the next three episodes kick the story into high gear. Thanks to taabou for subbing and raw can be gotten from jraws.

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