WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
Burn the house is a revenge jdorama. Nagano Mei used to belong to the rich Mitarai family but is now after revenge because 13 years ago her mother allegedly burned their house down but Nagano Mei believes that someone else was responsible. Nagano Mei's mother played by Kichise Michiko got divorced, lost her memory and her mother's best friend Suzuki Kyoka married her father.
In other words mother and two daughter were cast out and Suzuki Kyoka and two sons became the new Mitarai family. Suzuki Kyoka was friends with Kichise Michiko and is now starting to get famous as a celebrity. Nagano Mei uses Kitano Kii's name and becomes a housekeeper to infiltrate the Mitarai family and uncover the secret of who set the fire and the secrets of the Mitarai family.
WHAT IS GOOD
+ In the beginning I was having doubts about Burn the House Down because Nagano Mei's character while daring was not very smart. Luckily it leads to some good story developments.
+ Good stories are ones where while they are about A, it is really about B. While Burn the House Down is about revenge, it is about celebrity. Presenting oneself as this idealised person for public consumption. My main enjoyment is watching this as an interesting take on celebrity culture.
+ Love the Japanese name which means 'flame the Mitarai family', Enjou (flame) is mostly used to describe online criticism and also a building going up in flames so the double meaning is clever. A direct translation probably does
+ Suzuki Kyoka is awesome as the fame obsessed mother who will do anything for fame and money. She is so good at being bad.
+ This is basically good daughter vs evil stepmother as Nagano Mei tries to hide her true identity and find out information while doing her work as housekeeper. It is very easy to cheer on Nagano Mei against the evil Suzuki Kyoka.
+ The various turns that the story makes are quiet interesting.
WHAT IS NOT GOOD
- The turn around to Mitarai getting flame is too sudden that it was not a satisfying payoff. I wanted an escalating series of events not just a bunch of Instagram pictures.
- The father has no balls and should be run over by a truck.
MEH
= I think I enjoyed Burn the House Down partly because I had no expectations and the beginning was not so interesting that I actually considered dropping it.
= Kitano Kii was once the main actress for Life and now she is playing supporting roles. :(
SUMMARY
Good job by Netflix. The story takes its time to get better but I think Suzuki Kyoka is worth watching Burn the House Down for. Very watchable.
MN hasn't clicked for me in a while. To me, she has a wheel house (that was rare and lucrative) and for a good period her roll choices have been shying away from it. I contrast that to Aragaki Yui who doesn't have the greatest range of her cohort...but wow her roll selection is par excellence - nearly always playing to her strengths - you can feel her growth over each project.
ReplyDeleteKitano Kii - like so many others who's transition from younger star to mature doesn't stay within 'ideal' - the industry is not always kind to that change. What gives me hope is her success in lead roles like "Cinecon e Ikou!" means she is keeping a good profile.