The Story and the Script: Tatsuya, Riku and Junpei. 3 brothers who lost their father at a very young age. They were left in the care of their young mother whose growth may have stunted when their father died. Don’t think that this is an uber heavy melodrama you’re about to watch. It’s a light family drama with a little bit of everything thrown in. there’s laughter and romance and of course tears. Like most doramas that I’ve seen, this one is well-written and heartwarming without trying too hard ^^ despite the name-calling and fist-fights between the brothers, oh and of the mom too believe it or not^^ coupled with their “fond rudeness” to their mother, lies a deep love and respect for each other. What can I say, if it’s a dorama… more often than not, don’t take it too seriously.
The Director, Storytelling, Pacing: no need to expound on this too much ‘coz unless it’s a really bad production, doramas being 11episode max is usually paced just about right and this production is no exception. Kudos to the director for giving us an entertaining production.
The Casts and Characters: Tamayama Tetsuji as Sakurai Tatsuya, is the responsible eldest brother who always consider what their father would think in every decision he makes for himself and for the family. Hayami Mokomichi as Sakurai Riku, yes peeps, Mr. "Absolute Boyfriend" himself, is the free-spirited and charming middle child that is always at odds with his older brother. Nakao Akiyoshi as Sakurai Junpei, the youngest, has developed into a very able homemaker(because he had no choice!) thanks in part to their mother, Tanaka Misako as Sakurai Harue, who seems to have lost the inclination to keep house and whose maturity seems to have halted when her husband died. They are an unconventional, or is it more appropriate to call them dysfunctional... well whatever... my point is there’s a very good chance you’ll fall in love with this family inspite of and despite the chaos in their household.^^
Among all the characters though, I have a bit of a problem with the “pride’less” Chisato played by Kuninaka Ryoko. If you have read any of my previous posts, this should’nt be a surprise to you. you guessed right if you think I would slap some sense into her if I knew her in real life and I’ll very likely kick Tetsuya in his shins too if I know him ^^ Chisato, Chisato, don’t let a guy know that your world revolves around him alone, that he is everything to and for you, that in your eyes the sun rises and sets with only thoughts of him in your head… while that is completely pathetic, I understand that “it’s hard to battle with one’s emotions” ^^ BUT puleeez, under no circumstances should you let him know that you are THAT pathetic, *ORZ* otherwise, he will take you for granted and walk all over you… which is exactly what he did. Haaay, you should take a leaf out of Ai’s book, she’s my girl in this drama, knows how to handle “difficult” men like Riku without loosing herself completely. Ai was played by actress Asami Reina.
The Eye and Ear Candy: the eye and ear candy is suppose to be the cinematography and musical score… and what do I have to say about this… nothing extraordinary on both subjects! Who needs ‘em, isn’t Hayami Mokomichi enough of an eye candy for you guys? Hehe… to me he is! I heard his mom is a Filipina, so, no need to ask where his looks came from… the mom, of course! ^^ Seriously, he is a handsome devil and kawaii all rolled into one ^^
The Ending: I love that they opted to feature the traditional Japanese wedding ^^ its good for the international audience like moi to be exposed to the uniqueness of other cultures. The way Riku’s character had evolved and how he turned out is a welcome twist and definitely sentimentally heart warming ^^ Tetsuya and Chisato, figuring out where they had gone wrong is nicely resolved too. Unfortunately, im a bit concerned with Junpei and the pregnant girl… there is a veeery fine line between love and feeling sorry for someone. Pity is an emotion that is often mistaken for something else. Thank goodness this is just drama and not real life.
Rants: not a lot to complain about in this production except for one maybe… the first time Tatsuya suddenly wanting to date Chisato in the earlier episodes is waaay too “put-on” for me to be anything but believable! Im like… “what the heck is that!!!” He now all of a sudden, “likes” her??? Didn’t see that coming from any of the scenes shown before that. Mr Director, if you’re gonna go there in that direction, please give some hints of some kind of an attraction first, okie? What I saw was feeling sorry for her, it seems more like it! Not that I don’t like her, in fact, she has the prettiest face in this drama… haaay, if only she would loose the eye glasses…*ORZ*
Raves: ladies and gentlemen, please allow this shallow fangirl to give an eardrum beating cyber-scream for a japanese god named Hayami Mokomichi, WAAAAAAAAAA… ok, I’m going to zip-it now ^^