Yokoso, Wagaya e Review
Definitely the most recent drama I've watched, it just finished this week, and I was itching to finish this as soon as the subtitles were released. Through the grace of god (or whatever deity exists), the subs were released this evening, and now I find myself saying goodbye so quickly....Let's begin, shall we?
Synopsis: Kurata Kenta lives with his father, Taichi, his mother, Keiko, and his younger sister, Nana in an isolated home in the suburbs. He works as an unpopular commercial designer. Kenta possesses a timid personality, which he picked up from his father. Kenta doesn't like his father.
One day, while waiting for the train, Kenta warns a man who pushed a woman and cut in line. Kenta is surprised that he spoke out with his normally timid personality. After that incident, Kenta's family home is targeted by an unknown person with flowers from their garden being pulled out and the seat of a bicycle being torn. Also, Kenta's younger sister Nana is stalked by her ex-boyfriend.
Kenta and his family try to find out who is responsible.
If we're being completely honest here, the synopsis didn't pull me in like past dramas I've watched. Ouroboros, Kazoku Game, and even Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de had a better compelling plot structure. So what convinced me to watch this? Well....
Important Characters:
Kurata Kenta - eldest son, a chicken in human clothing, what is a backbone?
Kurata Taichi - father, salary man, seriously the backbone doesn't exist in this one
Kurata Keiko - mother, happy go lucky, the smile doesn't go away
Kurata Nana - ball of sunshine sister, has a creepy stalker
Kandori Asuka - not Nasuka, bitch get it right, reporter, no relation to the family
Gasu - actual ball of sunshine, cute and fluffy
Breaking it down: To be honest, I had no intention of watching this drama. I've read a few synopsis' of Aiba dramas and movies where he plays a timid, shy character, and I didn't want to sit through another timid Aiba show. I can hardly bring myself to watch Mikeneko no Holmes, so why would this be any different. Well, that was until a friend convinced me otherwise. She didn't say much, just said how the drama wasn't like the description, and it set me off on a path to discover how the drama was unlike the synopsis.
To my diapproval, the show is what is stated in the synopsis. Kenta stops a man from cutting in line and pushing a women at the train and he gets followed home. His family is then harassed by an unknown person and the drama moves forward from there. The first episode's plot is simple and linear, and you can tell this will be a typical suspense drama focused around a family.
Or is it? To be completely honest, since this drama has an Arashi member I was expecting the show to be solely centered around Aiba with some interactions from his family here and there. I was shocked to find that the show was plit pretty evenly between Kurata Kenta's story and Kurata Taichi's, with a little Keiko and Nana thrown in there to better develop their characters. We, as the viewers, get to see Kenta's struggles in trying to find out who Nameless-san is while the father fights his own battles in the company he works for.
After watching the show in its entirely, it's understandable why the writers chose to seperate the plot like this. In the beginning, we're introduced to Kenta and Taichi as two men who are timid human beings who cannot stand up for themselves. In the first episode, we see Kenta running from the stalker because he fears being attacked. For Taichi, we see him being dragged along by his subordinate as she attempts to expose the crimes of Chief Mase. Both men are incapable of stiffening their backbones and standing up for what they believe in.
Over the course of the show, we see them gradually become more confident in themselves and their abilities. By showing these two men, in their own enviornments, the viewer is better able to understand their journey. The introduction of Nameless-san into their lives has turned cowards into men. Which, given my past thoughts about dramas, was quite enjoyable to view.
Although the plot had me guessing what would happen next, I can't bring myself to praise this drama in its entirety. There's something off about the plot and revelation of the villain/villains where I can't bring myself to like it. It feels as though I'm being pulled by a string to each revelation and made to hate these characters, some of which were perfectly fine individuals until their crimes were revealed. Other characters, who we were made to hate from the start, were easily recognizeable as good human beings.
Asuka's ending also felt quite cheap to me. For such a strong female presence that the viewer comes to appreciate over the course of the drama, the little tidbit at the end felt quite out of character for it. Yes, she does recieve a happy ending with the family, but...I feel as though a villain role thrown at her at the end of episode nine and part of episode ten was uncalled for. The viewer is immediately suspicious of her due to clever editing and music choice. I'm not quite sure I can stand behind those choices that were made.
Although the two dramas are seperate, I felt as though Yokoso tried to pull "a Kazoku Game" in the last few seconds. This is simply where we are made to believe that everything is a happy ending for our characters before a last minute plot twist is thrown in. What's wrong with simply letting our characters be happy? Why do dramas feel the need to pull the happiness rug out from under our feet? I like that rug! I want to keep it there.
Score: 4/5
Final Thoughts: Althought Yokoso may have its weird moments, it is a good drama if you're looking for a good suspense series to binge watch in a day or two and can overlook its faults. If you're an Aiba fan that doesn't like him in timid roles, like myself, I highly recommend pushing past the first few episodes. Kenta grows so much over the course of the drama, and you won't be disappointed.