Brotherly lovin'
Cain and Abel
★ ★ ★ ☆
Overview
With roots in the biblical tale from which it borrows its name, Cain and Abel is the story of two brother fighting for power and love. It starts off with the father, who is president of the family company, and the elder brother Ryuichi, the VP, in the limelight at a company party for something or other. The younger brother, Yu, comes waltzing through, uninterested in the party. Where Ryuichi was groomed from childhood to take over the company from childhood, Yu was labeled “good-for-nothing” and neglected by their father (their mother is never mentioned, so we’re assuming dead?). After college, Yu starts working in the 5th sales division of the Takada company and is having trouble adjusting to salaryman life. Trouble starts when Ryuichi appoints Yu to a special project team and Yu discovers that his natural friendliness and persistence actually make him a valuable asset to the company, a fact that has Ryuichi worried for his own standing at the company.
Closer Look
As Yu, played by Yamada Ryosuke, continues to take risks pull off difficult projects and gain recognition within the company, Ryuichi, played by Kiritani Kenta, becomes increasingly jealous and worried that Yu will replace him. Things are made worse because Azusa, the girl Ryuichi is secretly dating played by Kurashina Kana, winds up on the same project team as Yu and they work closely together and have weird sexual tension going on. Meanwhile Hikari, a girl from the 5th sales division with a major crush on Yu, basically stalks them and is constantly staring at Yu with mad jealously (in a completely pure way because she’s the good girl, wait-for-you-forever type).
Despite the line at the end of the first scene, which makes you think that there’s going to be some messy family feuding going on, its actually pretty tame. Mostly it’s misunderstandings and anxiety-driven bad decisions rather than sabotage and betrayal that drives the plot. Not as interesting, but easier to recover from.
Yu starts off as this super nice guy who has the power to “gather people around him effortlessly,” which he uses on stubborn restaurant owners and ornery designers to get them like him enough to do what he wants, but as he rises in power from useless underling to team lead to board director (all in the span of two months) he quickly changes into an isolated jerk. This transition happens suddenly without much explanation until after the fact, where it falls flat, but Yamada does a fantastic job of portraying both aspects of the role. I’m constantly impressed by Yamada’s (rather un-Johnny’s-like) acting ability, which seems to get better with every role he plays, and he pulls off this very versatile character, even when the storyline is questionable.
My other main problem with this drama was with the aunt character, Momoko, who’s main purpose is to introduce the investor who saves the day when the Takada’s need money, Kurokawa, but then she continues to turn up at random times with her irritating use of English phrases (because she travels a lot???) and knowing smiles (although she has zero influence on the plot). Her character adds nothing to the story except a slight irritation every time she appears. Kurokawa is played by Takenaka Naoto, who is as ever, Takenaka Naoto (I still haven’t forgiven him for the complete a-hole he plays in Freeter, Ie wo Kau).
Bottom Line
Despite some weird timeline questions and sudden changes in character, Cain and Abel was interesting enough to hold my attention through all 10 episodes (no flashbacks, yay!). The loveline is weird, but luckily it doesn’t play that big of a part. The dynamic between the actors is good, and Yamada’s performance is worth watching.
★ ★ ★ ☆
Overview
With roots in the biblical tale from which it borrows its name, Cain and Abel is the story of two brother fighting for power and love. It starts off with the father, who is president of the family company, and the elder brother Ryuichi, the VP, in the limelight at a company party for something or other. The younger brother, Yu, comes waltzing through, uninterested in the party. Where Ryuichi was groomed from childhood to take over the company from childhood, Yu was labeled “good-for-nothing” and neglected by their father (their mother is never mentioned, so we’re assuming dead?). After college, Yu starts working in the 5th sales division of the Takada company and is having trouble adjusting to salaryman life. Trouble starts when Ryuichi appoints Yu to a special project team and Yu discovers that his natural friendliness and persistence actually make him a valuable asset to the company, a fact that has Ryuichi worried for his own standing at the company.
Closer Look
As Yu, played by Yamada Ryosuke, continues to take risks pull off difficult projects and gain recognition within the company, Ryuichi, played by Kiritani Kenta, becomes increasingly jealous and worried that Yu will replace him. Things are made worse because Azusa, the girl Ryuichi is secretly dating played by Kurashina Kana, winds up on the same project team as Yu and they work closely together and have weird sexual tension going on. Meanwhile Hikari, a girl from the 5th sales division with a major crush on Yu, basically stalks them and is constantly staring at Yu with mad jealously (in a completely pure way because she’s the good girl, wait-for-you-forever type).
Despite the line at the end of the first scene, which makes you think that there’s going to be some messy family feuding going on, its actually pretty tame. Mostly it’s misunderstandings and anxiety-driven bad decisions rather than sabotage and betrayal that drives the plot. Not as interesting, but easier to recover from.
Yu starts off as this super nice guy who has the power to “gather people around him effortlessly,” which he uses on stubborn restaurant owners and ornery designers to get them like him enough to do what he wants, but as he rises in power from useless underling to team lead to board director (all in the span of two months) he quickly changes into an isolated jerk. This transition happens suddenly without much explanation until after the fact, where it falls flat, but Yamada does a fantastic job of portraying both aspects of the role. I’m constantly impressed by Yamada’s (rather un-Johnny’s-like) acting ability, which seems to get better with every role he plays, and he pulls off this very versatile character, even when the storyline is questionable.
My other main problem with this drama was with the aunt character, Momoko, who’s main purpose is to introduce the investor who saves the day when the Takada’s need money, Kurokawa, but then she continues to turn up at random times with her irritating use of English phrases (because she travels a lot???) and knowing smiles (although she has zero influence on the plot). Her character adds nothing to the story except a slight irritation every time she appears. Kurokawa is played by Takenaka Naoto, who is as ever, Takenaka Naoto (I still haven’t forgiven him for the complete a-hole he plays in Freeter, Ie wo Kau).
Bottom Line
Despite some weird timeline questions and sudden changes in character, Cain and Abel was interesting enough to hold my attention through all 10 episodes (no flashbacks, yay!). The loveline is weird, but luckily it doesn’t play that big of a part. The dynamic between the actors is good, and Yamada’s performance is worth watching.