Rich Man, Poor Woman (eps 1-5)
Rich Man, Poor Woman is a currently airing Japanese drama that is a loose remake of the American film Pretty Woman. And when I say loose, I mean loose. Really all the two have in common is that the lead male is a rich, but lonely man and the lead woman is poor, but hard working. He doesn't "buy" her, he just hires her as an intern to help out with the making of a new government system.
The official summary: Oguri Shun plays Hyuga Toru, an affluent man whose personality is on the contrary, speckled with flaws. A CEO of an IT firm who is published on Forbes as a billionaire, Toru attained his fortune through chance and pure luck. A woman who meets Toru and eventually becomes attracted to him is Sawaki Chihiro, played by Ishihara Satomi. Chihiro is a hardworking college student at Tokyo University who has prepared for her future as much as she possibly could through studies and obtaining licenses. Despite her efforts, she has yet to land a job. Upon meeting Toru, she begins to unravel a genuine pureness inside him and solitude resulting from such pureness, which eventually draws her closer to him. The two repeatedly conflict each other, but little by little learn about one another to grow and develop together.
A Cinderella story of the real world. Will the two be able to compromise their values and lifestyles to become a happy couple.
This drama is a romantic comedy that reminds me a lot of the classic Japanese romances from the mid 90s-early 2000s. The ones that were about the personal relationships of the characters. The ones with chemistry and romance. Now a days a lot of the romantic comedies seem to focus more on comedy and mis-communication than good old fashion romance. Rich Man, Poor Woman reminds me of some of my favorites like Pride or the old office romantic dramas. It just has that old school feel that I'm so happy about. Little pre-2010 Kitagawa Eriko in terms of the build-up to romance and feelings.
Toru is a fun character and he's oddly likable. Even when he's being unlikable. Someone (somewhere) said that this role feels like Oguri Shun's chance to play Domyoji. I think that's true. At times Toru really does come off as Domyoji's more intelligent cousin. He's intelligent, but can be really child-like; especially in his interactions with his partner Asahina and Sawaki Chihiro/Natsui Makoto. Oguri Shun is really great here, both as a clever and creative IT guy and as a romantic lead.
Sawaki Chihiro/Natsui Makoto is a brilliant heroine. She's intelligent, hardworking, and just really kind to those around her. She cares, but she's not the cliched "poor girl with the heart of gold" that have been taking over the Asian drama world for the last four years or so. She tries and she cares; but she's not running around and falling over herself. She's likable and normal. The chemistry between Makoto and Toru is really well done, and their budding romance is handled well.
As for the other characters: Asahina could be interesting, because he smiles and acts like the perfect number two in front of people, but he's cold and angry when alone. However, he kind of leaves me blank. I like the Asahina and Toru scenes, but am a bit confused about Asahina's trip to the dark side. It can't be solely about money nor can it just be about him wanting to be front and center. There has to be more to it, or else he's just a villain because they need one. (I do like Arata in the role, though.)
Yoko is bright and cheerful and I like that she sees Makoto as a friendly rival for the affection of Toru. Her back story with Toru is actually bittersweet, and in any other drama she would be the romantic lead. She isn't the typical secondary girl - she's yet to be rude or mean for the sake of it. Yoko is nice and I could see her and Makoto being friends. It's just - she has nothing to do besides be the romantic rival. Aibu Saki (whom I do like, when she's given a chance to do something in her roles) pops up four times an episode to have a brief scene with Makoto, fight with one of her chefs, and than have a bittersweet scene with Toru. In all honesty, aside from showing how Toru's memory problem effects people emotionally, Yoko doesn't really have anything to do. Especially when you consider that the Toru/Makoto romance already has several things for them to overcome. I'm sort of hoping Yoko hooks up with her older chef and spends the last couple of episodes just hanging out, giving love advice. Because as of episode five, I'm getting bored with her scenes - they are almost always the same thing.
Overall, I'm really enjoying this drama. It's bright and fun and addictive. It's everything that was great about the old-school Japanese rom-coms of the mid-90s-early 2000s, without feeling like a redo. I'm a little bit in love with it.
The official summary: Oguri Shun plays Hyuga Toru, an affluent man whose personality is on the contrary, speckled with flaws. A CEO of an IT firm who is published on Forbes as a billionaire, Toru attained his fortune through chance and pure luck. A woman who meets Toru and eventually becomes attracted to him is Sawaki Chihiro, played by Ishihara Satomi. Chihiro is a hardworking college student at Tokyo University who has prepared for her future as much as she possibly could through studies and obtaining licenses. Despite her efforts, she has yet to land a job. Upon meeting Toru, she begins to unravel a genuine pureness inside him and solitude resulting from such pureness, which eventually draws her closer to him. The two repeatedly conflict each other, but little by little learn about one another to grow and develop together.
A Cinderella story of the real world. Will the two be able to compromise their values and lifestyles to become a happy couple.
This drama is a romantic comedy that reminds me a lot of the classic Japanese romances from the mid 90s-early 2000s. The ones that were about the personal relationships of the characters. The ones with chemistry and romance. Now a days a lot of the romantic comedies seem to focus more on comedy and mis-communication than good old fashion romance. Rich Man, Poor Woman reminds me of some of my favorites like Pride or the old office romantic dramas. It just has that old school feel that I'm so happy about. Little pre-2010 Kitagawa Eriko in terms of the build-up to romance and feelings.
Toru is a fun character and he's oddly likable. Even when he's being unlikable. Someone (somewhere) said that this role feels like Oguri Shun's chance to play Domyoji. I think that's true. At times Toru really does come off as Domyoji's more intelligent cousin. He's intelligent, but can be really child-like; especially in his interactions with his partner Asahina and Sawaki Chihiro/Natsui Makoto. Oguri Shun is really great here, both as a clever and creative IT guy and as a romantic lead.
Sawaki Chihiro/Natsui Makoto is a brilliant heroine. She's intelligent, hardworking, and just really kind to those around her. She cares, but she's not the cliched "poor girl with the heart of gold" that have been taking over the Asian drama world for the last four years or so. She tries and she cares; but she's not running around and falling over herself. She's likable and normal. The chemistry between Makoto and Toru is really well done, and their budding romance is handled well.
As for the other characters: Asahina could be interesting, because he smiles and acts like the perfect number two in front of people, but he's cold and angry when alone. However, he kind of leaves me blank. I like the Asahina and Toru scenes, but am a bit confused about Asahina's trip to the dark side. It can't be solely about money nor can it just be about him wanting to be front and center. There has to be more to it, or else he's just a villain because they need one. (I do like Arata in the role, though.)
Yoko is bright and cheerful and I like that she sees Makoto as a friendly rival for the affection of Toru. Her back story with Toru is actually bittersweet, and in any other drama she would be the romantic lead. She isn't the typical secondary girl - she's yet to be rude or mean for the sake of it. Yoko is nice and I could see her and Makoto being friends. It's just - she has nothing to do besides be the romantic rival. Aibu Saki (whom I do like, when she's given a chance to do something in her roles) pops up four times an episode to have a brief scene with Makoto, fight with one of her chefs, and than have a bittersweet scene with Toru. In all honesty, aside from showing how Toru's memory problem effects people emotionally, Yoko doesn't really have anything to do. Especially when you consider that the Toru/Makoto romance already has several things for them to overcome. I'm sort of hoping Yoko hooks up with her older chef and spends the last couple of episodes just hanging out, giving love advice. Because as of episode five, I'm getting bored with her scenes - they are almost always the same thing.
Overall, I'm really enjoying this drama. It's bright and fun and addictive. It's everything that was great about the old-school Japanese rom-coms of the mid-90s-early 2000s, without feeling like a redo. I'm a little bit in love with it.