JDrama Frustration
After watching the first 7 episodes of Hotaru no Hikari and discussing it with peachgirldb, I came to realize a serious annoyance I have with some Japanese dramas.
It's no secret that I often watch dramas that feature some sort of romance as a primary plot point. Well, it's kind of hard to avoid them when you're dealing with jdramas in the first place, but even so, in the end I guess I'm a bit of a dreamer and a softie and so I get into them.
If I'm watching something where the love interests get together too early - in the first half of the series, even - warning bells start going off. This is especially true if the main protagonist is so-called "unskilled in love". Since there needs to be conflict (it is a "drama" after all), there's bound to be challenges and complications in the relationship. However, I get seriously pissed when writers use unbelievable misunderstandings or contrived events for the sake of character angst. I can't believe how much it drives me nuts.
Here is a familiar example: if Protagonist and Love Interest make it quite clear to each other that they're interested in each other, and then you have an episode where Love Interest angsts because they think Protagonist already has a boyfriend/girlfriend, and Protagonist angsts because Love Interest has become distant, and the only reason for Love Interest to think this is because someone says Protagonist "must have a boyfriend/girlfriend because they're so pretty/handsome"? That is clown shoes.
I'm tired of misunderstandings that are either easily avoided or instantly resolvable becoming a source of drama. I know that I am overly sensitive to it, and it's probably just because I have a deep yearning in my soul to see loving couples succeed - or at least, be disrupted only by honest issues and not imagined ones - but I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for shows to explore its characters' experiences and motivations and build from that, instead of cookie-cutter plot points to buy time until the finale.
I am happy to say that in the case of Hotaru no Hikari, although it was certainly an offender for a few episodes in the middle, it almost entirely redeemed itself in its final 3 episodes. Finally, the issues were real, the characters were explored, and there was honest emotion. The show even went in a direction I wasn't entirely expecting for the ending, which is a plus. There was a point when I thought they were going to go way into left field with it, which I kind of would have loved, but it was not to be - too far from drama conventions, I think. My only real complaint was the rushed final 10 minutes or so of the finale. Other than that, I would say Hotaru no Hikari was worth it despite its painful middle stretch. Fujiki Naohito's character is one of my favourites ever, and showed a huge amount of character depth and growth. Although Ayase Haruka was clearly the "star" of the show, it wouldn't have been even close to as compelling without Fujiki's presence. Recommended, especially for those less sensitive than I am ;)
It's no secret that I often watch dramas that feature some sort of romance as a primary plot point. Well, it's kind of hard to avoid them when you're dealing with jdramas in the first place, but even so, in the end I guess I'm a bit of a dreamer and a softie and so I get into them.
If I'm watching something where the love interests get together too early - in the first half of the series, even - warning bells start going off. This is especially true if the main protagonist is so-called "unskilled in love". Since there needs to be conflict (it is a "drama" after all), there's bound to be challenges and complications in the relationship. However, I get seriously pissed when writers use unbelievable misunderstandings or contrived events for the sake of character angst. I can't believe how much it drives me nuts.
Here is a familiar example: if Protagonist and Love Interest make it quite clear to each other that they're interested in each other, and then you have an episode where Love Interest angsts because they think Protagonist already has a boyfriend/girlfriend, and Protagonist angsts because Love Interest has become distant, and the only reason for Love Interest to think this is because someone says Protagonist "must have a boyfriend/girlfriend because they're so pretty/handsome"? That is clown shoes.
I'm tired of misunderstandings that are either easily avoided or instantly resolvable becoming a source of drama. I know that I am overly sensitive to it, and it's probably just because I have a deep yearning in my soul to see loving couples succeed - or at least, be disrupted only by honest issues and not imagined ones - but I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for shows to explore its characters' experiences and motivations and build from that, instead of cookie-cutter plot points to buy time until the finale.
I am happy to say that in the case of Hotaru no Hikari, although it was certainly an offender for a few episodes in the middle, it almost entirely redeemed itself in its final 3 episodes. Finally, the issues were real, the characters were explored, and there was honest emotion. The show even went in a direction I wasn't entirely expecting for the ending, which is a plus. There was a point when I thought they were going to go way into left field with it, which I kind of would have loved, but it was not to be - too far from drama conventions, I think. My only real complaint was the rushed final 10 minutes or so of the finale. Other than that, I would say Hotaru no Hikari was worth it despite its painful middle stretch. Fujiki Naohito's character is one of my favourites ever, and showed a huge amount of character depth and growth. Although Ayase Haruka was clearly the "star" of the show, it wouldn't have been even close to as compelling without Fujiki's presence. Recommended, especially for those less sensitive than I am ;)