11 Nin Mo Iru!: Better than any Shoujo Manga I came across with this week
Awake from 12 midnight until almost 3:30 in the morning after getting enough sleep from around 7 in the evening until 12 midnight, I was up capping stuff and working on projects alternately. But that's my life. For 11 Nin mo Iru!'s episode 1 alone, I have 200+ screencaps to share with you. Ah no...I won't share all of them. Just a few, just a tasteful few. My favorite parts anyway. Who knew I'd find not one drama but 2 dramas to keep tabs on this season? Watashi ga Dekinai Riyuu is the second drama I'm following mainly for the plot---3 girls doing roomsharing (I wish I had some girls I know to do that with me, too XD)---and the background music, OST. This has to be the second drama, next to Keizoku SPEC, with which I can proclaim my love for the background music and all. It's no secret I like dramas that are chick flick-y (Watashi ga Dekinai Riyuu) especially when they have an amazing OST. It just makes everything else perfect for me. Good plot, good characters, good OST/BGM = one good drama.
Anyway, 11 Nin mo Iru! episode 1 is full of, well, the goodies. If you have yet to get into the drama, don't be late. It's only got the first episode out since it started airing the 21st of last week. 11 Nin mo Iru is a family drama. It's lighthearted and although it tackles societal issues like poverty and having so many mouths to feed though the supposedly breadwinner works mainly freelance as a photographer, the whole thing was strung together well where both the elements of a drama that is of the family genre and lighthearted, smart humor (comedy, comedic timing) makes it a lively, funny fam-drama that makes you laugh instead of cry. It empowers and enlightens you more than it does make you cry and pity the characters, really. Doesn't make sense? I'm not sure what I'm getting into, either. But basically, that's the gist of it. How I see 11 Nin mo Iru!
So...episode 1 goodies. Stop here if you do not want to get spoiled.
Here're your main characters: the Sanada family. Sanada Saigo (Kato Seishiro) makes a pretty good narrator, to be honest. It reminds me of when Kamiki was younger and he did the narration for some other dramas he starred in (Kaze no Garden).
(screencaps: mine)
The story starts with the narration as mentioned earlier. Sanada Saigo does the narration and to reiterate, Kato Seishiro makes a pretty good narrator. All that's left is to get him into voice acting roles.
To be more concrete, here's your family of 10, sleeping in one room. Aren't they an adorable, happy family? XD
Main character Kazuo, eldest in the family, actually works two jobs at the beginning of the episode. He delivers newspapers every morning and he works in a gasoline station perhaps when classes adjourn in the high school. Kamiki makes a pretty good looking err...hot...gasoline stand boy now.
Family profile: there are 10 people in the Sanada family including the mother and father. The mother, Megumi, is a chef and the whole family owns Hidamari, a store and cafe (it looks like a cafe, anyway). The father, Minoru is a photographer. We can assume he works freelance. Saigo mentions he's not had a job for forty days until he got one for some sort of reality magazine towards the end of the episode. Then the siblings, you have Kazuo, the eldest. You've been introduced to him earlier. He works part time to support the family and even help out his uncle---his father's younger brother. Then you have Niko (the second born), Mitsuko, Shiro, Satsuki and the twins, Rokusuke and Nanao and lastly, Saigo. The uncle that makes an occasional appearance is Hiroyuki. We're given hints on one part of the episode where he's a high school graduate who started working for a company when he's younger. He still sticks with the company even when his president ran away from debt collectors. It's another source of comedic moments for the series.
Apart from this not-quite-extended family, we have another member that only Saigo can see, Minoru's first wife, Megumi. She's prettier tan the current wife. She's the mother of all siblings except Saigo and is described to be carefree, spiteful and someone who easily gets jealous---if I were a guy, I'd marry her, too since I like those qualities in girls but that's beside the point. She worked previously as a stripper. So that's the first Megumi for you.
So...hello there, Megumi-san.
Being the firstborn and the default breadwinner of the family, (because the supposedly breadwinner has not picked up his camera and worked for his family's welfare yet) Kazuo is often the stressed out eldest brother. He frequently has clashes with his dad on money matters and you get to decide if the clashes are funny moments or not.
I suppose you get the idea of the whole thing now with the family profile and some indepth descriptions on a few leads, let's get onto my favorite parts. Kudo Kankuro is apparently known for his puns and stuff. This is according to KudoKan fans I met recently. I never did care much for Jdrama/Jmovie directors except those who have made a mark in the Jdrama/Jmovie industry like Takashi Miike and the directors/screenplay writers for tokusatsus Kamen Rider Den-O and Kamen Rider OOO but smart humor always gets to me which is why I like lighthearted dramas like this. This is definitely one drama done smartly. You can easily shun aside the serious societal issues because of the awe-inspiring stuff going on centerstage.
Here's subtle humor exhibit A. By the screencaps alone, I don't get it either. It would be better this were watched as an episode on its own.
Exhibit B. To which I should say: high school-sensei, don't mock the poor, yo.
Exhibit C. This is what I call a gem. Subtle but you can understand the pun in different ways. If I were Kazuo, I'd dream of the same future. He's killing his social life with all the part timing he does. Normal high school student? I don't think so.
I'll skip on the akai no oji-san (uncle in red) part and head to here because I think this is just as funny as the rest of the moments in the episode. Meet your God of poverty, Sanada Hiroyuki. What?! Don't look at me! First wife Megumi calls him that. XD AKA, the siblings' uncle. Posting this because I can't get enough of Hoshino Gen's goofy smile. In case you were wondering about something related to Tantei Gakuen Q, then BINGO! *insert bells here* He did work with Kamiki in Tantei Gakuen Q. He was the bumbling detective who can easily be bribed for vital information with Megu in maid costume pictures and all.
Hiroyuki-ji-san's life at work is basically a living, hilarious hell. He's constantly hounded by debt collectors who are asking for the money that the president of his company owes them. He tells Kazuo in one scene how the debt collecting company sends debt collectors that grow worse every time they are sent in to collect debt. What he told Kazuo isn't too far from the truth. Here are the three different debt collectors sent by the lending company in succession:
And then you have the confrontation that progresses with every debt collector sent to collect debt.
Let's move onto the program, ne? My other favorite hilarious scenes...
Jokes on oppai (breasts) always get to me. So it starts with this
And gradually progresses to this
If that isn't funny enough for you to convince you to watch the first episode, here's more
And
And even
That's the Saigo-ghost!Megumi-interaction for you.There are others, of course, but you'll have to see the first episode WHOLE. Come on over to the dark side, I'll offer cookies to anyone who bites and then proclaims this is one of the better dramas this fall season. XD Kekekekeke...
We've gone through about half of the episode. So we know by now Kazuo has money problems...his uncle, Hiroyuki, wanted to borrow money from him at some point just to clear the company president's debt. His dad, Minoru, is even less careful with the money given by Kazuo. Early in the episode, we see Minoru offer the 1000 yen which was the food allowance for the moment to a guy in red or the uncle in red...charity...thing. This leads to some funny moments which I won't post lest you want a more chaotic review up. All you need to know is that Minoru ended up passing on the meat on sale that was supposed to be for his family of 10. And because of all that has happened with Minoru and Hiroyuki, all that's left to deduce is that Kazuo NEEDS another job. Preferably something that pays big by the hour like this
His fantasies go this way (and I would have loved if it came true but...)
And you can tell he's in dreamland because
But then he meets this guy (you can tell he has something planned fo the boy XD)
And Kazuo ends up here instead of a host club. Yes, a gaybar.
In case you're wondeing about the red circles. That has to do with the second, to-be-aired-yet, episode this week. His dad, having been given a job to document something in the gaybar Kazuo works in, walks in on Kazuo doing his job. So you see his dad just coming in and Kazuo, enjoying himself...I think...
Here's one scene on a family discussion about Kazuo sudden wealth I find funny. It mentions his part time jobs, including that which he recently acquired---employment in a gaybar.
A missing cap here is when Saigo says "gaybar" out loud inciting short-lived chaos among those in the table for the family meeting at midnight.
Now, what else did I miss? There were other small details I missed, admittedly, like the lie Kazuo gave to his teacher about their family---Niko found out about it and told the whole family about it during the meeting. And then Hiroyuki-ji-san's attempted suicide which ended up comically. And then you have the hidden pun on the Dynamic Family (seen on the Sanada household's TV when they were preparing for dinner without Kazuo one night) and their parallelism to the Sanada family of 10...no 11...no 12 (with Hiroyuki and the diseased Megumi).
Oh and there's this
Everything else about Hiroyuki's connection to his brother's family came into full circle with the guy above. Apparently, he is the red uncle that crossed paths with Minoru earlier in the episode. Screencapping apparently gives me the ability to look more into the details of the drama and this is something I nearly missed.
A family drama is not a family drama without endearing moments. I gave you the comical moments, here's one of the more endearing ones that I liked.
Well, it's not one but two consecutive moments in the drama anyway. Why does the firstborn-youngest child work so well here for me? I come from a family of two (my younger bother and me) and my dad came from that of four siblings where only two of them survived, the youngest (my dad) and the eldest (my aunt). I think it's ties like these that make a family work so well, especially when the youngest child is born from that of the second mother the kids have had. I always found the relationship between the eldest child and the youngest child in the family one of the most endearing things in some dramas. But it depends on the drama. Sometimes it works, sometimes, it just doesn't and for this, it did. Kazuo showing Saigo a photo he's kept on his wallet of him and his biological mom was one of the cutest things in this episode I can't get over with.
What to look forward to next episode
I suppose that covers all bases.
Sa...let me know what you think. Feel free to drop a comment below. I'll catch up to some work first.
Yo...it took me two to three hours to complete this. And I don't think I managed to give an over all review. I'm not going to bother with a rating of my own. All I can say is this is one decent drama to get into this fall season.
One reason I may be biased on this is because my primary bias plays lead here---Kamiki Ryunosuke. I'm quite the big Kamiki follower and so this results. But my unbiased opinion says this is one gem of a series. I'd be lost of subs were not to continue on this one. So please, please stick with this for the time being. The puns, the comedy, the endearing moments, all that which makes the issues being tackled in the drama seem lighter for any audience's heart---this is one balanced drama that's not to be missed.
kg*
Anyway, 11 Nin mo Iru! episode 1 is full of, well, the goodies. If you have yet to get into the drama, don't be late. It's only got the first episode out since it started airing the 21st of last week. 11 Nin mo Iru is a family drama. It's lighthearted and although it tackles societal issues like poverty and having so many mouths to feed though the supposedly breadwinner works mainly freelance as a photographer, the whole thing was strung together well where both the elements of a drama that is of the family genre and lighthearted, smart humor (comedy, comedic timing) makes it a lively, funny fam-drama that makes you laugh instead of cry. It empowers and enlightens you more than it does make you cry and pity the characters, really. Doesn't make sense? I'm not sure what I'm getting into, either. But basically, that's the gist of it. How I see 11 Nin mo Iru!
So...episode 1 goodies. Stop here if you do not want to get spoiled.
Here're your main characters: the Sanada family. Sanada Saigo (Kato Seishiro) makes a pretty good narrator, to be honest. It reminds me of when Kamiki was younger and he did the narration for some other dramas he starred in (Kaze no Garden).
(screencaps: mine)
The story starts with the narration as mentioned earlier. Sanada Saigo does the narration and to reiterate, Kato Seishiro makes a pretty good narrator. All that's left is to get him into voice acting roles.
To be more concrete, here's your family of 10, sleeping in one room. Aren't they an adorable, happy family? XD
Main character Kazuo, eldest in the family, actually works two jobs at the beginning of the episode. He delivers newspapers every morning and he works in a gasoline station perhaps when classes adjourn in the high school. Kamiki makes a pretty good looking err...hot...gasoline stand boy now.
Family profile: there are 10 people in the Sanada family including the mother and father. The mother, Megumi, is a chef and the whole family owns Hidamari, a store and cafe (it looks like a cafe, anyway). The father, Minoru is a photographer. We can assume he works freelance. Saigo mentions he's not had a job for forty days until he got one for some sort of reality magazine towards the end of the episode. Then the siblings, you have Kazuo, the eldest. You've been introduced to him earlier. He works part time to support the family and even help out his uncle---his father's younger brother. Then you have Niko (the second born), Mitsuko, Shiro, Satsuki and the twins, Rokusuke and Nanao and lastly, Saigo. The uncle that makes an occasional appearance is Hiroyuki. We're given hints on one part of the episode where he's a high school graduate who started working for a company when he's younger. He still sticks with the company even when his president ran away from debt collectors. It's another source of comedic moments for the series.
Apart from this not-quite-extended family, we have another member that only Saigo can see, Minoru's first wife, Megumi. She's prettier tan the current wife. She's the mother of all siblings except Saigo and is described to be carefree, spiteful and someone who easily gets jealous---if I were a guy, I'd marry her, too since I like those qualities in girls but that's beside the point. She worked previously as a stripper. So that's the first Megumi for you.
So...hello there, Megumi-san.
Being the firstborn and the default breadwinner of the family, (because the supposedly breadwinner has not picked up his camera and worked for his family's welfare yet) Kazuo is often the stressed out eldest brother. He frequently has clashes with his dad on money matters and you get to decide if the clashes are funny moments or not.
I suppose you get the idea of the whole thing now with the family profile and some indepth descriptions on a few leads, let's get onto my favorite parts. Kudo Kankuro is apparently known for his puns and stuff. This is according to KudoKan fans I met recently. I never did care much for Jdrama/Jmovie directors except those who have made a mark in the Jdrama/Jmovie industry like Takashi Miike and the directors/screenplay writers for tokusatsus Kamen Rider Den-O and Kamen Rider OOO but smart humor always gets to me which is why I like lighthearted dramas like this. This is definitely one drama done smartly. You can easily shun aside the serious societal issues because of the awe-inspiring stuff going on centerstage.
Here's subtle humor exhibit A. By the screencaps alone, I don't get it either. It would be better this were watched as an episode on its own.
Exhibit B. To which I should say: high school-sensei, don't mock the poor, yo.
Exhibit C. This is what I call a gem. Subtle but you can understand the pun in different ways. If I were Kazuo, I'd dream of the same future. He's killing his social life with all the part timing he does. Normal high school student? I don't think so.
I'll skip on the akai no oji-san (uncle in red) part and head to here because I think this is just as funny as the rest of the moments in the episode. Meet your God of poverty, Sanada Hiroyuki. What?! Don't look at me! First wife Megumi calls him that. XD AKA, the siblings' uncle. Posting this because I can't get enough of Hoshino Gen's goofy smile. In case you were wondering about something related to Tantei Gakuen Q, then BINGO! *insert bells here* He did work with Kamiki in Tantei Gakuen Q. He was the bumbling detective who can easily be bribed for vital information with Megu in maid costume pictures and all.
Hiroyuki-ji-san's life at work is basically a living, hilarious hell. He's constantly hounded by debt collectors who are asking for the money that the president of his company owes them. He tells Kazuo in one scene how the debt collecting company sends debt collectors that grow worse every time they are sent in to collect debt. What he told Kazuo isn't too far from the truth. Here are the three different debt collectors sent by the lending company in succession:
And then you have the confrontation that progresses with every debt collector sent to collect debt.
Let's move onto the program, ne? My other favorite hilarious scenes...
Jokes on oppai (breasts) always get to me. So it starts with this
And gradually progresses to this
If that isn't funny enough for you to convince you to watch the first episode, here's more
And
And even
That's the Saigo-ghost!Megumi-interaction for you.There are others, of course, but you'll have to see the first episode WHOLE. Come on over to the dark side, I'll offer cookies to anyone who bites and then proclaims this is one of the better dramas this fall season. XD Kekekekeke...
We've gone through about half of the episode. So we know by now Kazuo has money problems...his uncle, Hiroyuki, wanted to borrow money from him at some point just to clear the company president's debt. His dad, Minoru, is even less careful with the money given by Kazuo. Early in the episode, we see Minoru offer the 1000 yen which was the food allowance for the moment to a guy in red or the uncle in red...charity...thing. This leads to some funny moments which I won't post lest you want a more chaotic review up. All you need to know is that Minoru ended up passing on the meat on sale that was supposed to be for his family of 10. And because of all that has happened with Minoru and Hiroyuki, all that's left to deduce is that Kazuo NEEDS another job. Preferably something that pays big by the hour like this
His fantasies go this way (and I would have loved if it came true but...)
And you can tell he's in dreamland because
But then he meets this guy (you can tell he has something planned fo the boy XD)
And Kazuo ends up here instead of a host club. Yes, a gaybar.
In case you're wondeing about the red circles. That has to do with the second, to-be-aired-yet, episode this week. His dad, having been given a job to document something in the gaybar Kazuo works in, walks in on Kazuo doing his job. So you see his dad just coming in and Kazuo, enjoying himself...I think...
Here's one scene on a family discussion about Kazuo sudden wealth I find funny. It mentions his part time jobs, including that which he recently acquired---employment in a gaybar.
A missing cap here is when Saigo says "gaybar" out loud inciting short-lived chaos among those in the table for the family meeting at midnight.
Now, what else did I miss? There were other small details I missed, admittedly, like the lie Kazuo gave to his teacher about their family---Niko found out about it and told the whole family about it during the meeting. And then Hiroyuki-ji-san's attempted suicide which ended up comically. And then you have the hidden pun on the Dynamic Family (seen on the Sanada household's TV when they were preparing for dinner without Kazuo one night) and their parallelism to the Sanada family of 10...no 11...no 12 (with Hiroyuki and the diseased Megumi).
Oh and there's this
Everything else about Hiroyuki's connection to his brother's family came into full circle with the guy above. Apparently, he is the red uncle that crossed paths with Minoru earlier in the episode. Screencapping apparently gives me the ability to look more into the details of the drama and this is something I nearly missed.
A family drama is not a family drama without endearing moments. I gave you the comical moments, here's one of the more endearing ones that I liked.
Well, it's not one but two consecutive moments in the drama anyway. Why does the firstborn-youngest child work so well here for me? I come from a family of two (my younger bother and me) and my dad came from that of four siblings where only two of them survived, the youngest (my dad) and the eldest (my aunt). I think it's ties like these that make a family work so well, especially when the youngest child is born from that of the second mother the kids have had. I always found the relationship between the eldest child and the youngest child in the family one of the most endearing things in some dramas. But it depends on the drama. Sometimes it works, sometimes, it just doesn't and for this, it did. Kazuo showing Saigo a photo he's kept on his wallet of him and his biological mom was one of the cutest things in this episode I can't get over with.
What to look forward to next episode
I suppose that covers all bases.
Sa...let me know what you think. Feel free to drop a comment below. I'll catch up to some work first.
Yo...it took me two to three hours to complete this. And I don't think I managed to give an over all review. I'm not going to bother with a rating of my own. All I can say is this is one decent drama to get into this fall season.
One reason I may be biased on this is because my primary bias plays lead here---Kamiki Ryunosuke. I'm quite the big Kamiki follower and so this results. But my unbiased opinion says this is one gem of a series. I'd be lost of subs were not to continue on this one. So please, please stick with this for the time being. The puns, the comedy, the endearing moments, all that which makes the issues being tackled in the drama seem lighter for any audience's heart---this is one balanced drama that's not to be missed.
kg*