Comments on eps 4-7 of jdrama 'Bambino!'
I went home with a migraine yesterday, ugh. Spending most of the day on the couch in the dark while it's a gorgeous blue-sky day outside is definitely Not My Idea of Fun.
In other news, I've been catching up with jdrama Bambino!. Sadly, We Are Not Amused. To be honest, I am trying to finish watching this drama simply because I'm a completist and I hate to leave a jdrama unfinished once I've started it. I'm up to episode 7 and it's picked up a bit, thank goodness, but by episode 4 and 5 and even 6 I was really losing my patience. Why? Because Matsumoto Jun's character of Ban was pissing me off. But he's not the only thing rubbing me the wrong way about the drama.
First, I liked Ban in the beginning, or at least I wanted to, so I cut him a lot of slack. He was over-confident, but I chalked that up to youthful stupidity. And then came the tears! The rolling crocodile tears! I have absolutely nothing against crying, and I have a particular fondness for men crying - under certain circumstances, anyway. But Ban and his crying into the pasta got to be annoying. I wanted to shake him and tell him to grow up and get over it or something like.
And then it got worse. First, he breaks up with his wonderful faithful girlfriend, Eri, in episode 4, and his mopiness made me want to smack him. And I also wondered why, if they loved each other so much, they couldn't consider staying together despite the distance? (I know, I'm projecting: I did long-distance for 2+ years and survived it, so I wonder why my drama characters can't be a little more devoted to one another, until I remember, oh yeah, it's the plot, silly!)
For our character's personal journey, he must be cut off from all the comfortable trappings of his former life in order to undergo the rigors and sacrifices necessary to test him and prepare him for the new life he desires. In Ban's case, he decides to quit his university education, go back to Tokyo, and become a chef at Baccanale. He even promises to pay his mother back for all the money she spent on his university tuition, and she tells him that his graduation will come when he finishes paying off the debt. His mom is a bit strange - she seemed nice enough, but I don't know, something about her hits me the wrong way.
When Ban heads back to Baccanale, he's welcomed back, but instead of going back to the kitchen where he longs to continue his training to become a chef, he's told that it's a rule at Baccanale that all staff must work the dining hall as servers for an undetermined time. The rationale actually makes sense to me: a good chef must keenly understand his customers' needs, and how better to learn this than to work the floor and become attuned to the customers on a first-hand basis. After all, that's the purpose for all of them, chefs and servers, alike: to make the diners happy.
And yet, the plotline makes me grind my teeth and roll my eyes because yet again, the writers have decided to give Ban a "trial by fire" which means that he's sent out to work the dining hall without proper training! This boggles my mind, and the extreme unrealism of it is what I can't stand. At a top-notch restaurant, there is no way that any supervisor would let someone like Ban loose on their dining room! He's grumpy, clumsy, doesn't think well on his feet, and demonstrates none of the courtesy and flair that seem requisite for the job. I lurk on fine dining/restaurant discussions online, and I can't begin to tell you how many reviews and comments I've read over the years in which diners swear they will never visit X restaurant again because the service was bad! One chance is all a restaurant usually gets to make a good impression.
Ban's service is atrocious - if he's not mopey and grumpy, he's smashing wine glasses and crashing pasta-laden dishes onto the floor - basically, making an utter nuisance of himself and destroying both the ambiance of the dining hall as well as ruining the reputation of the restaurant. Anywhere else he would have been sacked. But at Baccanale, Yona and Miyuki just shake their heads and shrug and Yona smiles wryly and indulgently to himself, as though over a wayward, naughty child. It defies all credulity that any restaurant management wouldn't take drastic measures to prevent a member of their staff from damaging their image and their diners' restaurant experience the way that Ban does.
Ban develops a kind of relationship with a tough and somewhat particular patron, Nogami-san, which leads him to strive to improve in order to gain her approval, but Yonamine disapproves after the first time Ban makes Nogami-san happy, because he correctly points out that Ban's motivations are solely for himself. He doesn't do the right thing for Nogami-san's sake or for her companions (Ban doesn't even remember them), but rather for his own gratification, for his desire for approval.
Yona's point is important. "Love," he tells Ban. Love is the answer, love is the reason, the motivation, and it's what makes a good server. Incidentally, it's also part of what makes a good chef, which Ban does come to learn later, after a competition with a washed-up, former Baccanale chef (the same actor who played Nao's fiance in Tatta Hitotsu no Koi, only scruffier, jobless, and less clumsy).
I know, I've complained a lot about Ban's shortcomings and the serious lack of realism in the drama, but there is something that I LOVE. I love, love, love the relationship between Yonamine, Miyuki and Kuwahara. Their after-work threesome tickles me endlessly. Prior to Ban becoming a server, I loved Yona unconditionally, but after, I have to admit I thought twice about his hands-off management style. While I appreciate that he wants Ban to learn important lessons for himself, I still find it ridiculous that any of them would jeopardise the restaurant just to educate the puppy. That being said, I'm still in love with Yona's dimples and his suave manner. His smile is always a highlight of each episode!
In other news, I've been catching up with jdrama Bambino!. Sadly, We Are Not Amused. To be honest, I am trying to finish watching this drama simply because I'm a completist and I hate to leave a jdrama unfinished once I've started it. I'm up to episode 7 and it's picked up a bit, thank goodness, but by episode 4 and 5 and even 6 I was really losing my patience. Why? Because Matsumoto Jun's character of Ban was pissing me off. But he's not the only thing rubbing me the wrong way about the drama.
First, I liked Ban in the beginning, or at least I wanted to, so I cut him a lot of slack. He was over-confident, but I chalked that up to youthful stupidity. And then came the tears! The rolling crocodile tears! I have absolutely nothing against crying, and I have a particular fondness for men crying - under certain circumstances, anyway. But Ban and his crying into the pasta got to be annoying. I wanted to shake him and tell him to grow up and get over it or something like.
And then it got worse. First, he breaks up with his wonderful faithful girlfriend, Eri, in episode 4, and his mopiness made me want to smack him. And I also wondered why, if they loved each other so much, they couldn't consider staying together despite the distance? (I know, I'm projecting: I did long-distance for 2+ years and survived it, so I wonder why my drama characters can't be a little more devoted to one another, until I remember, oh yeah, it's the plot, silly!)
For our character's personal journey, he must be cut off from all the comfortable trappings of his former life in order to undergo the rigors and sacrifices necessary to test him and prepare him for the new life he desires. In Ban's case, he decides to quit his university education, go back to Tokyo, and become a chef at Baccanale. He even promises to pay his mother back for all the money she spent on his university tuition, and she tells him that his graduation will come when he finishes paying off the debt. His mom is a bit strange - she seemed nice enough, but I don't know, something about her hits me the wrong way.
When Ban heads back to Baccanale, he's welcomed back, but instead of going back to the kitchen where he longs to continue his training to become a chef, he's told that it's a rule at Baccanale that all staff must work the dining hall as servers for an undetermined time. The rationale actually makes sense to me: a good chef must keenly understand his customers' needs, and how better to learn this than to work the floor and become attuned to the customers on a first-hand basis. After all, that's the purpose for all of them, chefs and servers, alike: to make the diners happy.
And yet, the plotline makes me grind my teeth and roll my eyes because yet again, the writers have decided to give Ban a "trial by fire" which means that he's sent out to work the dining hall without proper training! This boggles my mind, and the extreme unrealism of it is what I can't stand. At a top-notch restaurant, there is no way that any supervisor would let someone like Ban loose on their dining room! He's grumpy, clumsy, doesn't think well on his feet, and demonstrates none of the courtesy and flair that seem requisite for the job. I lurk on fine dining/restaurant discussions online, and I can't begin to tell you how many reviews and comments I've read over the years in which diners swear they will never visit X restaurant again because the service was bad! One chance is all a restaurant usually gets to make a good impression.
Ban's service is atrocious - if he's not mopey and grumpy, he's smashing wine glasses and crashing pasta-laden dishes onto the floor - basically, making an utter nuisance of himself and destroying both the ambiance of the dining hall as well as ruining the reputation of the restaurant. Anywhere else he would have been sacked. But at Baccanale, Yona and Miyuki just shake their heads and shrug and Yona smiles wryly and indulgently to himself, as though over a wayward, naughty child. It defies all credulity that any restaurant management wouldn't take drastic measures to prevent a member of their staff from damaging their image and their diners' restaurant experience the way that Ban does.
Ban develops a kind of relationship with a tough and somewhat particular patron, Nogami-san, which leads him to strive to improve in order to gain her approval, but Yonamine disapproves after the first time Ban makes Nogami-san happy, because he correctly points out that Ban's motivations are solely for himself. He doesn't do the right thing for Nogami-san's sake or for her companions (Ban doesn't even remember them), but rather for his own gratification, for his desire for approval.
Yona's point is important. "Love," he tells Ban. Love is the answer, love is the reason, the motivation, and it's what makes a good server. Incidentally, it's also part of what makes a good chef, which Ban does come to learn later, after a competition with a washed-up, former Baccanale chef (the same actor who played Nao's fiance in Tatta Hitotsu no Koi, only scruffier, jobless, and less clumsy).
I know, I've complained a lot about Ban's shortcomings and the serious lack of realism in the drama, but there is something that I LOVE. I love, love, love the relationship between Yonamine, Miyuki and Kuwahara. Their after-work threesome tickles me endlessly. Prior to Ban becoming a server, I loved Yona unconditionally, but after, I have to admit I thought twice about his hands-off management style. While I appreciate that he wants Ban to learn important lessons for himself, I still find it ridiculous that any of them would jeopardise the restaurant just to educate the puppy. That being said, I'm still in love with Yona's dimples and his suave manner. His smile is always a highlight of each episode!