Musings on jdramas in general and Aishiteiru to Itte Kure in particular...
Jdramas take a lot more risks than kdramas and twdramas usually do, in terms of storyline or narrative patterns. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
Because of that very risk, a random kdrama is more likely to really appeal to me than a random jdrama (with a kdrama, you know what you are getting usually, once you read the plot synopsis and figure out what type of drama it will be). But after a few jdramas which are not my thing, I end up forgetting the other part of that equation: that when a jdrama works for me, there is hardly anything that can be as wonderful, and as immediate. For all of kdrama polish or twdrama exuberance, what a good jdrama has that neither of the others possess is this feeling of real.
I am thinking of Aishiteiru to Itte Kure, of course, and how I have fallen in love with its everyday world. I never knew how much the lives of two rather ordinary people, with some baggage (but a baggage a person can have quite often), and with no hyperdramatic events could enthrall me. Because the things that happen are so everyday, so real, so normal, however earth-shattering to the participants they might be: a fight out of frustration, making love first thing in the morning*, holding an umbrella in together in the rain. And yet my empathy for the characters endows these little milestones with enormous emotional weight for me, the viewer, as well. That is the beauty of this (and other good jdramas). They are populated by people you could imagine knowing in real life, passing by in the street, something kdramas and twdramas, in a hyper-saturated world of their own, do not have (Hana Yori Dango comes the closest to that wonderful but very different kdrama feel). Somehow, that grain of realness remains in even the most ‘unusual’ jdrama, even Hana Yori Dango itself, with its messed-up rich boy and super-spunky poor girl (maybe it’s in Domyouji’s dorkiness or the way Makino rushes to odd jobs) or Zettai Kareshi where the plot revolves around an office worker ordering a robot lover. Robot lover excepted, you can so imagine a girl like Riko: dreamy, dissatisfied, a bit old-fashioned, eating lunch at a table next to you.
And this is even more of a feeling with something like AtIK, something that could happen to your neighbor, or that nice lady who always walks by you in the park.
I adore my angst and melodrama, as I am sure you can tell. But anyone can make entertaining a story with crazy events piled in an improbable pile. The real strength of writing and creating characters is when my interest isn’t solely maintained because ‘OMG! X doesn’t know that Y has terminal illness. When would Z get run over?’ etc etc, but because I end up loving the characters. I love Kohji’s teasing grin, and the way Hiroko is always running because she is late. I love watching them walk and talk and spend time together. The relationship is fun to watch, and the dramatic tension is there, not because ‘OMG! he turns out to be her half-brother!’ ‘OMG, her Dad killed his Mom!’ or similar OTT situation, but because they are two very different people, coming together and adjusting to each other, for the very first time. (I can’t see such a seemingly simple story in a kdrama or a twdrama at all). The real secret of a good drama is that I would happily watch them wash dishes together.
And of course, another thing I love about AtIK is that it’s about grown-ups. Especially Kohji. My love for Takki, MatsuJun and Yamapi notwithstanding, I tend to gravitate to dramas with older leads. I am younger than (e.g.) Kimura Takuya or Toyokawa Etsushi, but I am more in their characters’ age bracket/stage of life than I am with someone who is portraying a twenty-year old.
*As alexandral pointed out, Kohji and Hiroko have a very sexually charged relationship. That is one of the things I love about this drama. I don’t need to see the nitty-gritty (nor do we, there is nothing to see below the neck) but I appreciate and approve of the fact that AtIK seems to recognize that part of loving and being with someone, and being compatible is making each other physically happy, and that part of early giddy infatuation includes physical discoveries and tendernesses too. Whenever I see this in a drama, I always love it (other jdrama examples that come to mind are Pride and Kamisama Mou Sukoshi Dake, and A Beautiful Life. And oddly, Kimi Wa Petto and Forbidden Love, a bit). A side point, actually. I wonder if most of the dramas I’ve seen it in have that sort of thing with older stars in part because of not wanting to muck up a star’s clean-cut ‘idol’ image? (Which of course makes me wonder about MatsuJun who seems to get away with murder in that regard :P) Whatever it is, I love it when I see a rare jdrama (or other drama) which addresses that part of relationship organically. And AtIK is wonderful in that respect because, as with Pride, that part of a relationship isn’t a big plot point or part of a message (as it is with e.g. Forbidden Love), but because it’s an organic part of being a couple.
Because of that very risk, a random kdrama is more likely to really appeal to me than a random jdrama (with a kdrama, you know what you are getting usually, once you read the plot synopsis and figure out what type of drama it will be). But after a few jdramas which are not my thing, I end up forgetting the other part of that equation: that when a jdrama works for me, there is hardly anything that can be as wonderful, and as immediate. For all of kdrama polish or twdrama exuberance, what a good jdrama has that neither of the others possess is this feeling of real.
I am thinking of Aishiteiru to Itte Kure, of course, and how I have fallen in love with its everyday world. I never knew how much the lives of two rather ordinary people, with some baggage (but a baggage a person can have quite often), and with no hyperdramatic events could enthrall me. Because the things that happen are so everyday, so real, so normal, however earth-shattering to the participants they might be: a fight out of frustration, making love first thing in the morning*, holding an umbrella in together in the rain. And yet my empathy for the characters endows these little milestones with enormous emotional weight for me, the viewer, as well. That is the beauty of this (and other good jdramas). They are populated by people you could imagine knowing in real life, passing by in the street, something kdramas and twdramas, in a hyper-saturated world of their own, do not have (Hana Yori Dango comes the closest to that wonderful but very different kdrama feel). Somehow, that grain of realness remains in even the most ‘unusual’ jdrama, even Hana Yori Dango itself, with its messed-up rich boy and super-spunky poor girl (maybe it’s in Domyouji’s dorkiness or the way Makino rushes to odd jobs) or Zettai Kareshi where the plot revolves around an office worker ordering a robot lover. Robot lover excepted, you can so imagine a girl like Riko: dreamy, dissatisfied, a bit old-fashioned, eating lunch at a table next to you.
And this is even more of a feeling with something like AtIK, something that could happen to your neighbor, or that nice lady who always walks by you in the park.
I adore my angst and melodrama, as I am sure you can tell. But anyone can make entertaining a story with crazy events piled in an improbable pile. The real strength of writing and creating characters is when my interest isn’t solely maintained because ‘OMG! X doesn’t know that Y has terminal illness. When would Z get run over?’ etc etc, but because I end up loving the characters. I love Kohji’s teasing grin, and the way Hiroko is always running because she is late. I love watching them walk and talk and spend time together. The relationship is fun to watch, and the dramatic tension is there, not because ‘OMG! he turns out to be her half-brother!’ ‘OMG, her Dad killed his Mom!’ or similar OTT situation, but because they are two very different people, coming together and adjusting to each other, for the very first time. (I can’t see such a seemingly simple story in a kdrama or a twdrama at all). The real secret of a good drama is that I would happily watch them wash dishes together.
And of course, another thing I love about AtIK is that it’s about grown-ups. Especially Kohji. My love for Takki, MatsuJun and Yamapi notwithstanding, I tend to gravitate to dramas with older leads. I am younger than (e.g.) Kimura Takuya or Toyokawa Etsushi, but I am more in their characters’ age bracket/stage of life than I am with someone who is portraying a twenty-year old.
*As alexandral pointed out, Kohji and Hiroko have a very sexually charged relationship. That is one of the things I love about this drama. I don’t need to see the nitty-gritty (nor do we, there is nothing to see below the neck) but I appreciate and approve of the fact that AtIK seems to recognize that part of loving and being with someone, and being compatible is making each other physically happy, and that part of early giddy infatuation includes physical discoveries and tendernesses too. Whenever I see this in a drama, I always love it (other jdrama examples that come to mind are Pride and Kamisama Mou Sukoshi Dake, and A Beautiful Life. And oddly, Kimi Wa Petto and Forbidden Love, a bit). A side point, actually. I wonder if most of the dramas I’ve seen it in have that sort of thing with older stars in part because of not wanting to muck up a star’s clean-cut ‘idol’ image? (Which of course makes me wonder about MatsuJun who seems to get away with murder in that regard :P) Whatever it is, I love it when I see a rare jdrama (or other drama) which addresses that part of relationship organically. And AtIK is wonderful in that respect because, as with Pride, that part of a relationship isn’t a big plot point or part of a message (as it is with e.g. Forbidden Love), but because it’s an organic part of being a couple.