Friday, October 26, 2007

Ushi ni Negai wo: Love & Farm eps 8+9


Fark. My PS3 died. This is almost as bad as having my internet connection go down. What am I going to do without my VF5-fix? Should have finished Folksoul first. At least I've still got tons of PS2 games to finish and doramas to catch up on. The highlight for Ushi ni Negai wo so far is when Takashimuzu's sister finally lets it all out and calls her brother for what he is; a hypocritical, idealistic idiot who can't make decisions. There's nothing wrong with being an idealistic idiot who can't make decisions. Its being a hypocrite.


Unwilling to take over his family's farm and yet easily 'assuming responsibility' for Katsuya. Idealistic people make promises too easily and are blind to the simple truths of life. I was so happy when someone on the show with common sense finally spoke up. Takashimuzu's sis would be my favourite character if only she were featured more. Katsuya's farm is bleeding money. Getting more money to delay the demise of an unprofitable business is like pouring gasoline on a fire. The explosion is going to hurt even more.


Which brings me to my second point, about how much the farmers are struggling. When farmers struggle because of drought anyone would feel sorry for them. In this show, they never say why business is bad. Is it because there's not enough grass for the cows to eat or something? From the series, I get the idea that its because small time farming for milk is inefficient. I mean how many cows does the Takashimizu family have? Twenty? thirty at most?

I'd live on a farm and milk cows just for Toda Erika....

Is its because the profit margin is so low and only mass, efficient production of milk profitable? I'd like to emphatise with the farmers but is their hardship because of bad luck or because they have not moved with the times? Would a better idea be to consolidate the farms themselves so that they can have a higher volume of production and be competitive.


Why should tax payers prop up struggling farms just because they've been there for generations? Without a clearer picture of the farmers' plight, it just seems to me that they're not helping themselves by expecting a miracle to save their farms. If my assumptions are correct, then shouldn't the problem be the small time farmers who cannot think outside the box and not the politicians who want to create more jobs?


The whole speech by the group in front of the politicians is so laughably bad. Is Japan in such a bad shape that people come home from work and listen childish speeches by kids who've only been farming for a few months making promises without having any idea of the hardship that await them? Its not like this group has really gone through any real hardship anyway...


And just because a politician looks sleazy doesn't mean he is evil. This show is suppose to make the audience sympathetic to the poor farmers and their plight. All it does is make them look like people just expect handouts. When a farm can't even repay part of a loan, its freaking obvious what must be done. And Mano-kun is a fucking idiot. Now man can refuse a Toda Erika koukuhaku!

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