Thursday, December 03, 2009

Ohitorisama 1-5

Saito-san would never cry!

Not another older working woman with younger guy dorama! Not to mention that the younger guy Shinichi is played by Ijyuuin who looks like a twelve year old! There is no freaking way he can have any sort of chemistry with Mizuki Arisa. Ijyuuin is basically playing the female role here and his character displays a lot of stereotypical feminine characteristics. The only way their relationship would work is if they were an S&M couple but I'd rather not give it too much thought.


This begs the question, why have I lasted up till ep 5 so far? Obvious answer is of course Mizuki Arisa. There hasn't been any bad episodes so far though non of the episodes have been pretty good either. Its easier to stomach Ijyuuin since he was in Iryu. Being in one of my all time favourite doramas does wonders for an actor's watchability.

No jdorama about high school is complete without a rooftop scene.

Then there's my favourite part of the show, the battle between Sawai sensei (Matsushita Nao) and Saegusa over Ijyuiin. Sawai sensei, the seemingly pure and innocent teacher is always there to foil Saegusa's plans to snare Ijyuiin. Her strong knowledge of teacher entrapment techniques hint that she may not be as nice as she pretends to be. I just find it hilarious how Sawai sensei always appears out of nowhere.

I love how positively evil she looks. I wonder if it was intentional?

Ohitorisama is pretty much standard career woman dorama. Its also got one element I really find useless, the need for the main character to voice every goddamn thought she has. Mizuki Arisa is a decent actress and I'm pretty sure she can convey from the emotions with her acting without the need for a monologue everytime something happens. When Akiyama sensei has to spell out every goddamn thought, its sort of like she's imposing herself on the audience. When there is no thought monologue, the audience is able to read the character through his/her actions and facial expressions thus creating a relationship whereby the viewer is more of an observer who gets the know the character as the series progresses. KDO is the perfect example of this.

She hasn't been doing her kawaii voice in doramas anymore...

Ohitorisama is a watchable show more because it hasn't really done anything badly. Unless you're a Mizuki Arisa or Matsushita Nao fan, give it a skip. Compared to Jin, Liar Game and Fumi Chitai Ohitorisama is as pedestrian a jdorama as they come. If Ohitorisama came out during a bad season like the last one, I would be more positive about it but with 3 good shows this season, I can only say 'watch it if you've got nothing better to do'.

3 comments:

pcurve said...

Haha I agree this show is just coasting by. Pedestrian is the right word. Script and direction just lack the fineness of a good show.

I think the biggest surprise of this season for me is Shinya Shokudo. It's a low budget 25 min show, and not all episodes are great, but some are just pure home run. (ep 5). I love how they integrated the cooking into this show. Definitely one of the more memorable series over the years.

Another late night I like is Bocho Mania 09. Haha ok ok, only because it has Minami Akina in it.

Akiramike said...

Two bad they're both not subbed. Should be able to get the HK subbed ones later but would you say that either of them are must watch?

pcurve said...

haha I'd skip the Bocho Mania.

Shinya is just about the most low budget looking jdorama I've ever watched. Unless you can pick one up for a few bucks, don't sweat it.