Tonbi is really growing on me. My initial impressions were of a watchable crying porn dorama and it had a lot of crying in the first two episodes. The crying became less and it became more about the characters and more showa type slapstick humour for lack of a better term. Its a father son dorama set in the past and present about how this emotional block-headed father managed to raise his son to be so well mannered everyone thinks he is gay.
I really liked episode 4. Its my favourite form of Japanese sentimentality, where people are trying to say something without saying it and drying damn hard to be stoic. Contrast that with the always gushing Beautiful Rain.
Episode 5 sees Kenshin in high school and his acting is pretty decent. The whole looking into Kenshin's past and its relevance to his current situation with the hot MILF has really kept Tonbi from becoming a moral lesson of the week series. My opinion on Tonbi has changed from watchable to good. If the quality holds up, it might go to must watch.
I'm looking forward to finishing this series so I can watch the NHK's Tonbi special. Can't wait to see Tsutsumi Shinichi's Yasuo who will no doubt be less slapstick. My guess is its going to be like the movie Densha Otoko vs the dorama series.
2 comments:
kenshin is one of the rare naturals even in supporting roles like the one in fuyu he leaves a much more convincing act than the other actors. the drama with Maeda sucked, but he still does an awesome job with his acting.
Ep 3 really made me see the father as a guy who can actually convey emotional stuff even if his rough outspoken side to his character isn't as natural.
Anyway I am REALLY enjoying this between waiting for Saikou to be subbed, and Shotenin eps. Tonbi is worth continuing on with! Thanks Akira!
So the Kenshin name really stuck? lol. Not that I'm complaining, because he's simply brilliant as Kenshin.
As for tonbi, so far so good. I supposed it moves away from the melodrama when the kid grows up (though the teary part is still there). The producer can simply stick with Akira when he's young, but I guess there's a lot of lessons you need to learn when you turn teenager.
I'm glad Kenshin doesn't try to over-act, it's easy for him to do so considering he needs to play along with Yasu-the-loudmouth idiot. And the ending of ep4 made me laughed- there's a time to be subtle, and there's time for revelation. I'm glad they put the realisation in, rather than get the main character to moon from far. Although him-trying-to-confess is another thing together.
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