J-Drama matome - Nobuta to Mei
The good thing AND the bad thing about Japanese mini-series dramas is that they're short.
I watched two lately: one actually kind of awesome, another not even delivering on it's fun premise.
Nobuta wo Produce was a show that never seemed to settle for the expectation. It's a pretty simple set up; popular boy gets talked into making bullied girl popular by wacko guy with a knack for getting under his skin. And there were some ending feel-good speeches in the earlier episodes that were kind of dry of originality, on the kinds of uplifting lines J-dramas for youth seem to feel necessary. But even while a lot of the conflicts were familiar, and the elements, the directing and writing and acting were on an unusual level.
I posted a mention that I wanted to find the manga--but now I know that it *isn't* derived from a manga I can see that in the way it worked. Someone wrote this as a TV show and did a mighty good job.
The family set-ups weren't neglected, though they borrowed familiar things--the rich boy living away from home...but in a Tofu shop. Which is where they make the different tofu and by-products, not just a shop-front, and therefore has an unusual color. The popular boy is actually a bit of a housewife at home, while his dad is the cook, because the MOM is always gone for work in exotic locales.
And the friendship dynamic isn't saccharine, and not concrete. It had ups and downs, without having forced drama. I can't remember why I started watching this, exactly, but it was much better than it promised--and gets onto the list of awesome Makeover stories that involve not actually managing a makeover. ;)
(the fact that she's thought cute for being awkward is actually quite realistic for Japanese school--it's about presentation. like THAT moral!)
Mei-chan no Shitsuji, however... it leaned a bit hard on the shojo manga beats, and what it did have for interesting parts were thrown away. The main lead was cute and enigmatic as a minor character in Hana Kimi (the playboy dorm leader), but completely unable to sustain either the moments of emotion he was supposed to show OR the charismatic blank a butler is supposed to have as a general state. He held himself awkwardly when he was trying to be formal.
It makes a girl really appreciate the way Kim Hyun-Joong looks so natural being blank and cool, even though anything of more intensity looks unnatural...
Every single other butler was more interesting--and I don't think it was that the character as written was lacking. Though the others had the benefit of funny quirks. But it's weird when *every* minor character that has a mini-arc is a scene-stealer compared to the lead.
And the fun there could have been with the rich school was used up in the first episode--the heroine herself is in a shabby low-rank dorm, and the budget was limited, so the only set that actually looked opulent was their classroom, mainly by right of the fancy armchairs the girls had with big ottomans...
The heroine was kind of compelling, as acted, though toward the end the stealing of agency was a little tiresome. Why does every heroine have to overcome a basic inability to act for themselves in these YA-j-dramas? :sigh:
I watched two lately: one actually kind of awesome, another not even delivering on it's fun premise.
Nobuta wo Produce was a show that never seemed to settle for the expectation. It's a pretty simple set up; popular boy gets talked into making bullied girl popular by wacko guy with a knack for getting under his skin. And there were some ending feel-good speeches in the earlier episodes that were kind of dry of originality, on the kinds of uplifting lines J-dramas for youth seem to feel necessary. But even while a lot of the conflicts were familiar, and the elements, the directing and writing and acting were on an unusual level.
I posted a mention that I wanted to find the manga--but now I know that it *isn't* derived from a manga I can see that in the way it worked. Someone wrote this as a TV show and did a mighty good job.
The family set-ups weren't neglected, though they borrowed familiar things--the rich boy living away from home...but in a Tofu shop. Which is where they make the different tofu and by-products, not just a shop-front, and therefore has an unusual color. The popular boy is actually a bit of a housewife at home, while his dad is the cook, because the MOM is always gone for work in exotic locales.
And the friendship dynamic isn't saccharine, and not concrete. It had ups and downs, without having forced drama. I can't remember why I started watching this, exactly, but it was much better than it promised--and gets onto the list of awesome Makeover stories that involve not actually managing a makeover. ;)
(the fact that she's thought cute for being awkward is actually quite realistic for Japanese school--it's about presentation. like THAT moral!)
Mei-chan no Shitsuji, however... it leaned a bit hard on the shojo manga beats, and what it did have for interesting parts were thrown away. The main lead was cute and enigmatic as a minor character in Hana Kimi (the playboy dorm leader), but completely unable to sustain either the moments of emotion he was supposed to show OR the charismatic blank a butler is supposed to have as a general state. He held himself awkwardly when he was trying to be formal.
It makes a girl really appreciate the way Kim Hyun-Joong looks so natural being blank and cool, even though anything of more intensity looks unnatural...
Every single other butler was more interesting--and I don't think it was that the character as written was lacking. Though the others had the benefit of funny quirks. But it's weird when *every* minor character that has a mini-arc is a scene-stealer compared to the lead.
And the fun there could have been with the rich school was used up in the first episode--the heroine herself is in a shabby low-rank dorm, and the budget was limited, so the only set that actually looked opulent was their classroom, mainly by right of the fancy armchairs the girls had with big ottomans...
The heroine was kind of compelling, as acted, though toward the end the stealing of agency was a little tiresome. Why does every heroine have to overcome a basic inability to act for themselves in these YA-j-dramas? :sigh: