Thursday, August 14, 2008

Tomorrow eps 2-4

Kanno Miho looking a tad too happy....

Someone said that this season is pretty bad. While nothing has really impressed me, Tomorrow is one show that I look forward to every week. After all there's no stupid idol stunt casting. Just veteran actors and an interesting script. I'm surprised that I feel no loathing Kanno Miho's character, Aiko. Usually idealistic characters who turn a blind eye to reality just piss me off. Yet somehow, her portrayal of Aiko does not make her seem like an idiot but rather someone who stubbornly wants to continue doing her job the way her mother did despite overwhelming odds.

Devil v Angel/Realist v Idealist

And I have to agree with everything that Endo sensei says. After all, her job is to try to save the hospital from its huge deficit caused by mismanagement. It almost makes me want to see a show where the 'cold hearted' Endo sensei is the hero while the idealistic characters are the villains who misguidedly want to prevent the saving of the hospital. After all, good intentions do not a good outcome make.



Kohei is the man caught in the middle, except its not really a tug of war between Aiko and Endo. Kohei's got his own demons to deal with. He just happens to be an important tool for the saving of the hospital. Looks like they finally revealed the twist that everyone and their dog saw coming in ep 4. Of course, what matters is not how good a twist is but how it contributes to the storyline. The revelation certainly created some interesting scenarios and tension.

Why isn't she wearing her nurse uniform???!!!! Naze???!!!!!

I just love the look on Kanno Miho's face when she finally found out the truth. The feeling of complete bewilderment and shock. Not knowing whether to laugh or cry. I just love it when there's actually good acting in jdoramas. Yes, I know I keep harping about it like a broken records but when you watch doramas, you at least expect people with a certain amount of acting skills. I think Kanno Miho is so underratedly brilliant. She looks and acts nothing like Hatarakiman in Tomorrow. She is Tanaka Aiko, idealist who has been through much hardship and stubborn in her beliefs because they are what sustained her.


It begs the question how much hatred do Aiko and Nanami have and how much was the hatred fuel for their survival? While the dorama still suffers from your usual jdorama cliches and melodorama, there is quite a lot of depth in the script like how the medical cases from each episode runs parallel to the issues the characters themselves face. I can't wait for ep 5! :)

3 comments:

lzyData said...

Tomorrow is such a well-made and acted medical drama, typical of the high production standards of Japanese dramas. I'm also a great fan of Takenouchi Yutaka and Kanno Miho, especially Kanno. Watch this behind-the-scenes video: it has things you'll never see in the show, like Endo-sensei smiling and laughing :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VCMmYZFhaw

Akiramike said...

OMG, that's not Endo sensei! Thanks for the link!

Anonymous said...

It's hardly a surprise that Tomorrow is a successful series. You really need "veterans" actors like Takenouchi and Kanno to make things work. The so-called 3rd generations actors have a lot of work to do.